On “Being Heumann”: A Dialogue About Disability Activism with Judy Heumann - 東京カレッジ

On “Being Heumann”: A Dialogue About Disability Activism with Judy Heumann

When:
2022.06.24 @ 00:00 – 00:00
2022-06-24T00:00:00+09:00
2022-06-24T00:00:00+09:00
On "Being Heumann": A Dialogue About Disability Activism with Judy Heumann

Finished
YouTube
Date(s) Available Friday, 24 June 2022 after 5PM
Venue

Tokyo College YouTube Channel

Language English with Japanese interpretation
Abstract

In this event, disability advocates Judy Heumann and Mark Bookman discuss the past, present, and future of accessibility and inclusion in the United States and Japan. Touching on barriers in built environments, education, employment, and entertainment systems, as well as activist movements and anti-discrimination policies, the two help to highlight a path towards creating a more diverse society in which nobody is excluded.

Program

Speaker

Judith E. HEUMANN
Disability rights activist

 

Commentator

Mark BOOKMAN
Postdoctoral Fellow, Tokyo College

Speaker Profile

Judy Heumann is a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people and instrumental figure in the development and implementation of legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which are advancing inclusion of disabled people around the world. Judy’s memoir, Being HeumannAn Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, co-authored by Kristen Joiner, was published by Beacon Press in 2020.

Organized by Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo
Contact tokyo.college.event@tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Upcoming Events

What is the Hiroshima AI Process (HAIP) Reporting Framework? – Japan’s cutting-edge global AI governance initiative

イベント予定パネルディスカッション/Panel discussion講演会/Lecture

Monday, 28 July 2025, 14:00-15:30 JST

The Hiroshima AI Process (HAIP), launched at the G7 Hiroshima Summit, is a global framework promoting transparency in AI development and usage. Under the leadership of the OECD Secretariat, a reporting framework to advance transparency for trustworthy AI began in 2025.
This webinar introduces HAIP and explores its significance. Panelists from companies that have submitted reports to HAIP will discuss why they joined, best practices for transparency and disclosure, and expectations regarding Japan's new AI Promotion Act, which explicitly aligns with HAIP. As such, this session will be valuable not only for technical and legal teams at global companies working with foundation models, generative AI, or AI agents, but also for Japanese companies operating solely within Japan, including SMEs and startups.

Coffee, Sustainability and Climate Change (Lecture by Prof. Catherine TUCKER)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Wednesday, 30 July, 15:00–16:30 JST

Coffee is one of the world’s most popular beverages, associated with sociality, alertness, and productivity. Over time, coffee production has contributed to environmental degradation, rural poverty, and societal inequities. Currently, its production is threatened by climate change, market volatility and economic uncertainties. Drawing on longitudinal research with coffee producers in Central America, this talk will examine coffee producers’ efforts to improve their coffee quality, socioeconomic well-being, and environmental sustainability in contexts of extreme weather events and myriad insecurities. The discussion also will consider consumer roles, the impacts of certifications, and approaches for supporting climate resilient coffee production.

Macroeconomic Policy Prescriptions for the Japanese Economy (Lecture by Prof. KIYOTAKI Nobuhiro)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Wednesday, 27 August, 15:00–16:00 JST

Japan’s economy is currently facing a variety of challenges, including the impact of Trump-era tariffs, rising food prices, a rapidly aging and declining population, and growing concerns over fiscal and environmental sustainability. In this lecture, we are pleased to welcome Prof. Kiyotaki Nobuhiro, a world-renowned macroeconomist, and Ms. Nakazora Mana, an economist working at the forefront of global financial markets. Together with the audience, we will explore Japan’s current economic challenges and consider possible solutions from a macroeconomic policy perspective. This event is open to a wide audience, especially those with an interest in macroeconomics and policy design. We warmly welcome your participation and questions.

Previous Events

A Sensory Theory of Environmental Justice (Lecture by Prof. Mukul SHARMA)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Wednesday, 23 July, 15:00–16:30 JST

Human senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—shape how we perceive and interact with the world, influencing environmental experiences and cultural practices. Yet sensory politics—the social organization of touch, smell, and taste—often reinforces hierarchies, marginalizing certain groups as environmental ‘others.’ This lecture examines the ‘environmentality’ of the senses, focusing on their role in perpetuating inequalities within discriminatory social structures. By interrogating how sensory norms sustain injustice, I argue for a new environmental justice vocabulary—one that integrates sensory and social dimensions to address the entangled relationships between environment, power, and lived experience in caste-based societies.

Envisioning the Japan–Korea Intellectual Community (Lecture by Prof. YANG Ilmo)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Wednesday, 16 July, 15:00–16:30 JST

Since the Edo period, intellectual exchange between Japan and Korea has continued in a sustained manner. Despite the colonial rule in the 20th century, intellectual interactions became even more active. This lecture revisits several cases of such exchange between Japanese and Korean intellectuals, such as Fujiwara Seika and Gang Hang, Yamazaki Ansai and Yi Hwang, the Kogaku school and Jeong Yakyong, and Fukuzawa Yukichi and Yu Giljun, to explore the potential for a future Japan-Korea intellectual community. While past attempts to make an East Asian community have often faced the “East Asian paradox”, namely, the reinforcement of nationalism, this lecture is also an attempt to seek clues for overcoming such challenges.

Ecosophy: Multiple Perspectives and Its Roles in Planetary Health (Lecture by Dato’ Seri Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Friday, 11 July, 10:30–12:00 JST

Achieving planetary health requires not only scientific solutions but also fundamental cultural and behavioral transformations. This lecture will present a comprehensive approach that addresses both individual values and social systems. Through examples from Japan and Scandinavia, it emphasizes the importance of integrating eco-sophy—ecological philosophy—into policy and societal frameworks. Furthermore, it highlights the crucial roles of non-state actors, including NGOs and academic institutions involved in the water and energy sectors, alongside governments, in addressing climate change challenges.

Discourses about Environment and Nature in the Hebrew Bible (Lecture by Prof. Thomas RÖMER)

イベント予定講演会/Lecture

Thursday, 22 May, 13:00–14:30 JST

This lecture will argue that the Hebrew Bible contains different views on nature and the environment, especially in relation to the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and its capital Jerusalem in 587 BCE. This event triggered different discourses of crisis management that will be analyzed with the help of a German sociologist Armin Steil who distinguishes three attitudes toward crisis also found in the Hebrew Bible: 1) The prophetic attitude: belief that crisis will lead to a new creation with harmony between humans, nature, and animals; 2) The mandarin attitude: view of disasters as divine punishment without much interest in the environment; and 3) The priestly attitude: construction of a mythic past that offers rituals for the present with interest in the place of humans in their environment. The last discourse offers an important reflection about a possible harmony between all beings.


TOP