News

Interfaith Dialogue Dinner Series Addresses ‘Faith and Mental Health’ on March 3

February 26, 2020

Reprinted from Syracuse University News – Campus & Community

The University’s ongoing Interfaith Dialogue Dinner Series, “Common and Diverse Ground: Raising Consciousnesses by Acknowledging the ‘Hidden’ Things that Divide Us,” continues on Tuesday, March 3, with the second dialogue of the Spring 2020 semester. The dialogue will include an in-depth discussion on “Faith and Mental Health” with guest co-facilitator Shanti Das ’93 and student co-facilitator Shaelise Tor, a doctoral candidate. Continue Reading

BBI welcomes Senior Fellow Michal Soffer

February 26, 2020

Michal Soffer, Ph.D., MSW
Michal Soffer is the head of the Master’s specialization track in social work with people with disabilities at the School of Social Work. She received a Bachelor of Social Work, a Master of Social Work and a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Soffer completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Burton Blatt Institute, College of Law, Syracuse University. She received an Alon scholarship for outstanding young faculty by the Israeli Council for Higher Education. Continue Reading

Winter Issue of Wordgathering, a Digital Open Access Journal of Work From Disabled Writers and Artists, Now Live

February 13, 2020

Reprinted from: Syracuse University News Arts & Culture

The winter issue of Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature is now live on Wordgathering’s new website. This is the quarterly journal’s 52nd issue and the first under publication by the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach in Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute (BBI), headquartered in the College of Law, and Syracuse University Libraries. Under the new editor-in-chief, Diane R. Wiener, research professor and associate director of interdisciplinary programs and outreach, the journal is now available via digital open access.

Peter Blanck, BBI Chairman, addresses Boston U. Law School at 25th Anniversary of Landmark Case Guckenberger v. Boston University, establishing rights of Students with Disabilities

February 4, 2020

Revisiting Guckenberger: Past, Present, and Future of the ADA
**This event is open to the entire Boston University community, area schools, and the general public**
Time: 1 to 2:30 pm; Date: February 14th; Location: Barristers Hall (First floor @ BU Law)
Disability Access is Love
Event description & details…
Please join BUDLAA and EdLaw for a lunchtime lecture celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Professor Peter Blanck of Syracuse University will speak about the development of the ADA, the law’s present challenges and successes, and where there is still room to grow in the realm of higher education and the legal profession. Accessible and allergy friendly lunch will be served!

BBI International Fellow Dr. Delia Ferri awarded prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grant worth 2 million euro

January 13, 2020

In December 2019, Dr Delia Ferri, Lecturer at Maynooth University and International Fellow at the BBI, has been awarded a prominent European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant of €2 million to undertake research examining the extent to which EU Law protects the rights of persons with disabilities to fully participate in cultural endeavours.

New Space Promotes Synergy Between Burton Blatt Institute and College of Law

January 7, 2020

As a premier disability research and public policy institute whose work is tied to American civil rights laws, the Burton Blatt Institute’s new headquarters in Dineen Hall feels like home.

The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) has moved into new headquarters in the College of Law’s Dineen Hall. BBI Chairman and University Professor Peter Blanck says the renovated space dovetails with the Institute’s mission to advance the civic, economic and social participation of persons with disabilities.

From ‘Justice for Jenny’ to Justice for All: Burton Blatt Institute Redefines ‘Supported Decision Making’

December 5, 2019

Syracuse University News Original Story

Think about all the decisions you make in your life. From where you work, to what you eat, to whom you associate with, to where you live, to politicians you vote for—human lives are ruled by myriad decisions that people, for the most part, make for themselves. Now, imagine someone else making those important life decisions for you. How would it feel to not be in the driver’s seat of your own life? Would it make you feel out of control, anxious or even helpless? Continue Reading

BBI Chairman Blanck to give Keynote Address at International Conference on Building an Inclusive Society through Accessibility at Maynooth University in Ireland

November 21, 2019

Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) Chairman and University Professor Peter Blanck will speak at the Symposium hosted by the Assisted Living & Learning (ALL) Institute and the Department of Law on November 21, 2019. The event will take place at National University of Ireland Maynooth’s North Campus in the Phoenix Boardroom. Blanck will deliver the keynote presentation on Building an Inclusive Society through Accessibility.

Vote for BBI’s Jason Harris for the Unicorn Children’s Foundation Community Inclusion Awards

November 1, 2019

Jason Harris Program Coordinator at the Burton Blatt Institute has been nominated as Media Influencer and Community Choice Award from the Unicorn Children’s Foundation Community Inclusion Awards. Harris started Jason’s Connection an online platform and Facebook page that looks at disability as an identity and part of the fabric of humanity. The Facebook page reaches around 300,000. Vote for Jason in the Community Choice Award daily until November 15th

Book Reviews of Heavy Laden: Union Veterans, Psychological Illness, and Suicide (2018), by BBI colleagues Larry Logue & Peter Blanck

October 29, 2019

October 29, 2019

“Veterans of the Civil War were perhaps the first to draw attention to the possible psychological consequences of combat. At the time, veterans with psychological problems, including criminality, alcoholism and addiction, violent behavior, and suicide were attributed to “nervous trouble”, “nostalgia”, “soldier’s heart”, and other vaguely defined conditions which are now known as post-traumatic stress disorder.”