On Thursday, 26th September, the ERC DANCING team were delighted to welcome Professor Cora True-Frost from Syracuse University College of Law, USA, for a dedicated workshop at Maynooth University. The workshop entitled ‘Accommodating Equality in the Skies: The Difference Disability Makes’ invited attendees to dive into the topic of (in)accessible air travel and transport by persons with disabilities, and in particular persons with reduced mobility.

The workshop was opened by Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute Co-director Professor Deirdre Desmond, who emphasised the ALL Institute’s trans- and interdisciplinary research culture that seeks to translate academic research into positive policy change and create lasting societal impact. In her capacity as Principal Investigator of the ERC DANCING project and convenor of the workshop, Professor Delia Ferri introduced the project and highlighted the relevance of accessibility of transportation in the exercise of the right to participate in cultural life. Professor Cora True-Frost gave her inspired keynote, skilfully drawing on and blending lived experiences of travelling with her family and son who uses a wheelchair, with legal state-of-play of air-travel norms in the United States of America and the European Union. Dr. Shivaun Quinlivan (University of Galway) acted as discussant and provided insightful comments on the topic. She emphasised the need to change attitudes of policy- and lawmakers and the power of stories, i.e. the lived experience of persons with disabilities.

Keynote Speaker

Cora True-Frost is the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence and the Bond, Shoeneck & King Distinguished Professor at Syracuse University College of Law. She teaches and writes on American Constitutional law, human rights, disability law, and international security law. Professor True-Frost’s recent research focuses on accessibility and reasonable accommodation law before the European Court of Human Rights and conflicts between interpretations of international human rights and regional human rights law. Her scholarship is informed by her experiences defending individuals accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes; leading the Non-governmental Organization Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security at UN headquarters to advocate to the UN Security Council; and parenting a child with multiple disabilities. She is a co-editor and author of The First Global Prosecutor: Promise and Constraints with Martha Minow and Alex Whiting. Professor True-Frost has moreover published widely on international disability law and human rights, International Criminal Court prosecution, terrorism and human rights law, and the UN Security Council.

Discussant

Shivaun Quinlivan is an Associate Professor in Law at the University of Galway, Ireland. She was the first Vice-Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the College of Business, Public Policy and Law at NUI Galway. Her research focuses primarily on the right to equality with a particular focus on the right to education for people with disabilities. Publications on the subject include The Right to Inclusive Education in International Human Rights Law (Cambridge University Press 2019) co-edited with Gauthier De Beco and Janet E. Lord. She is a member of the Berkeley Centre on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law and the Irish Women’s Lawyers Association. Dr. Quinlivan acted as an expert advisor to the States of Guernsey in relation to the development of new multi-ground equality legislation from 2018-2020. In 2016-2017 she was an O’Brien Residential fellow in the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism in McGill University in Canada. With Dr. Lucy-Ann Buckley she co-led two inclusive learning projects at NUI Galway. She has just completed a major project on Embedding Respect in the University of Galway.

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