Academical Profile

02/2009

PhD (phil.), Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, TU Dortmund University, "Disability in International Discourse. The flexible classification of the World Health Organization"

12/2004

2nd state examination for the teaching profession at elementary and secondary schools with special education, religion and politics

1999 - 2000

Intercultural studies (additional studies for teachers of children of different mother tongues)

06/1999

1st state examination for the teaching profession at primary and secondary schools with special pedagogical specialization

1993 - 1999

Studies of educational science, pedagogy of the mentally handicapped and learning disabled, evangelical theology, University of Hamburg

Since 10/2020 - University of Kassel

Professor at the Institute of Social Work in the Department of Human Sciences, Head of the Section of Disability, Inclusion and Social Participation

09/2013 - 09/2020 -Bremen University of Applied Sciences

W2 professorship "Social work with a focus on health" at the Faculty of Social Sciences

04/2017 - 09/2018 - Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg

Lectureships in the Disability Rights module of the international Master of Human Rights.

12/2012 - 08/2013 - University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer

W2-Professorship for Social Work with focus on special education and rehabilitation science

09/2009 - 11/2012 - German Institute for Human Rights, Berlin

Social Science Officer at the Monitoring Body for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Policy advice at federal and state level as well as at the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs on participation of disabled people

Training for the Azerbaijani Ombudsman-Institution for Human Rights on behalf of GIZ as representative of the German Institute for Human Rights, Baku, Azerbaijan, 01.-05.08.2011

05/2009 - 11/2012 - Humboldt University Berlin, Ev. University of Applied Sciences Berlin and EH Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe, University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal

Lectureships in English and German

03/2009 - 08/2009 - Institute Human, Ethics and Science, Berlin

Research Assistant

01/2002 - 03/2009 - University of Hamburg

Freelancer at the Research Program Biotechnology, Society and Environment (FSP BIOGUM), Research Group Medicine/Neurosciences

04/2001 - 03/2003 - Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg

Research assistant in the research project Humanism in the 19th and 20th century, Institute for General Pedagogy

08/2003 - 03/2009 - Authority for School and Vocational Training, Hamburg

Teacher and pedagogue for the disabled children in integration classes at the Erich Kästner Comprehensive School (since 08/2005), the Bergstedt Comprehensive School (07/2004 - 07/2005) and the Astrid-Lindgren-Förderschule (08/2003 - 07/2004)

Head of the Working Group for Disability Education and member of the Coordination Group Integration (08/2005 - 03/2009) of the EKG

10/2017-12/2017 - Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Visiting Scholar at the Center of Disability Studies, (research semester WS 2017/18)

06/2016-07/2016 - DAAD-funded research trip to Israel.

"Perspectives on Disability after the Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities".

09/1995 - 01/1996 - University of Limerick, Limerick, Republic of Ireland

Study of the subjects: Education, Irish Society, Irish Studies

18.–20.02.2026
“Research – Attitude – Activism? Inclusive Education Research Between Educational Utopia and System Conformity”
39th Annual Conference of Inclusion Research (IFO), University of Bremen

18./19.04.2024
“Research Questions in Participation Research IV: Epistemological and Social-Theoretical Foundations of Participation Research”
Working Group on Participation Research, Research Network on Social Law and Social Policy (FoSS), in cooperation with the Institute for Social Research, Frankfurt/Main

16.04.2024
Assisted Suicide – (Also) a Threat to Disabled People?
Joint event of Selbstbestimmt Leben e.V. and the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Bremen

25.04.2023
Academic expert and co-organizer of the film screening “The Voyage” by Israeli director Itamar Wexler, followed by a discussion on the multiple persecution of disabled and mentally ill Jewish people during the Nazi era, with Arne Frankenstein (State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Bremen); Dr. Martin Zinkler (Head Physician, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Bremen-Ost); Jörg Utschakowski (Head of Psychiatry Division, Senator for Health, Women and Consumer Protection); Itamar Wexler (director); and myself as a researcher at the University of Kassel.
In cooperation with the German–Israeli Society Bremen/Unterweser e.V., Kultur-Ambulanz, Krankenhaus-Museum; City 46 Bremen

04.02.2023
Workshop “Just and Sustainable Transition” for prospective PhD scholarship holders, University of Kassel

15.06.2021
Conference chair: “Inclusive Education in Literacy Practices and in the Second-Chance Education System”
Final conference of the INAZ research project, Bremen University of Applied Sciences, in cooperation with the Bremen Adult Education Center (Volkshochschule Bremen) and the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Bremen (digital)

16.10.2018-18.06.2019

Head of the lecture series "100 Years of Social Women's School in Bremen - Topics in Social Work Today", in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Corinna Grühn and Milena Konrad, University of Applied Sciences Bremen

22.03.-14.06.2016

Leading the lecture series "Flight and Refugees. Perspectives and insights from Bremen's professional practice", in cooperation with Prof. Can Aybek and Marie Seedorf, Bremen University of Applied Sciences

17.-19.04.2015

Organization and management of the conference: "Everything self-determined? Functioning. Control. Optimize." 20 years network against selection by prenatal diagnostics, in team with the network, Bremen University of Applied Sciences.

25.10.2011

Organization and realization of the conference: "UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Germany on the way to a barrier-free society?", in the team of the Monitoring Agency, German Institute for Human Rights and in cooperation with the Federal Competence Center for Accessibility, Berlin

11.11.2010

Organization and realization of the conference: "Empowerment und Co-determination. Participation in political processes", in the team of the Monitoring Body, German Institute for Human Rights Berlin

25.10.2010

Organization and realization of the expert discussion: "Human Rights-Based Indicators", in the team of the Monitoring Body, German Institute for Human Rights Berlin

08.12.2009

Organization and realization of the conference: "When the world has to change for me..."The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the concept of "reasonable accommodation", in the team of the Monitoring Body, German Institute for Human Rights Berlin

08.12.2001

Organization of the conference Humanities Education, War and Nazism. Critical questions about the connection between pedagogy, politics and military, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg

08.01.2001

Organization and realization of the conference " Significance of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas for today's educational thinking", University of Hamburg.

04/2025 – 02/2026 | Courses in the BA Inclusive Education & MA Education (University of Bremen)

• Addressing Social Barriers and Participation in Practice: Confronting Ableism and Other Forms of Group-Focused Enmity in Schools (BA)
• Self-Determination of Disabled People as a Societal Achievement: A Core Component of Teachers’ Professional Competence (BA)
• Disability Studies and Intersectionality (BA)
• Intersectionality: Disability, Society, and School (Module 2.1, Continuing Education MA Education & Certificate Program Inclusive Education)
• Lecture: Introduction to Inclusive Education (BA)

10/2020 – 02/2025 | Courses in the MA Diversity Research in Social Work & MA Adult and Continuing Education (University of Kassel)

• Disability Studies: Global Developments and Local Significance for Social and Educational Professions (Module 2)
• Ableism and Group-Focused Enmity (Heterophobia) (Module 3)
• Introduction to International Disability Studies from an Intersectional Perspective (Module 5)

10/2020 – 11/2024 | Courses in the BA Social Work (University of Kassel)

• Professional Practice in Social Work: Strengthening the Self-Determination of Disabled People
• Professional Practice in Social Work: Strengthening the Self-Determination of Disabled People in Historical Perspective
• Disability as a Human Rights Issue
• Disability and Human Rights
• Bachelor’s Thesis Colloquium

09/2013 - 09/2020

Regular courses on: Disability and participation; Health sciences; Human rights for all, also with severe impairments; Disability, body, health; Inclusive education as a societal challenge; Human rights and diversity (engl.), Introduction to scientific work (Hochschule Bremen, full teaching load (18 SWS) since WS 2013/14).

04/2017 - 10/2018 

Disability Rights, international English-language Master of Human Rights, Faculty of Political Science, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (2 SWS in cooperation with Dr. Thomas Bernhard)

12/2012 - 08/2012

Regular courses on: Disability as a Diversity Category, Ethics in Politics and Sustainability, Developmental and Socialization Theories, Individual Learning under Constrained Conditions, Severe Impairments as a Challenge for Inclusive Early Education, Patho- and Salutogenesis in Application, Disability and More: Interdependencies and Intersectionality (University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, pro rata in WS 2012/13, full teaching load (18 SWS) SoSe 2013).

09/2012 - 01/2013

Disability Studies - interdisciplinary sciences of disability: Since when, by whom and for what purpose founded, Faculty of Special Education, Ev. University of Applied Sciences Rhineland Westphalia-Lippe

10/2010 - 03/2011

Disability/non-disability and the discussion of interdependencies, Faculty of Gender Studies, Humboldt University Berlin (with Carola Pohlen)

04/2010 - 07/2010

Disease, Illness and Identity, Bachelor of Nursing, Ev. University of Applied Sciences Berlin

04/2010 - 07/2010

Introduction to Disability Studies, Bachelor of Nursing, Ev. University of Applied Sciences Berlin

10/2009 - 02/2010

Models of Disability, Program in Rehabilitation Psychology, Magdeburg/Stendal University of Applied Sciences

10/2009 - 02/2010 

Family Care and Cultural Diversity, Bachelor of Nursing, Ev. University of Applied Sciences Berlin

10/2009 - 01/2010

What is a Chronic Illness?, Bachelor of Nursing, Ev. University of Applied Sciences Berlin

04/2009 - 07/2009 

Disability Studies with a main focus on the Social Model of Disability, Ev. University of Applied Sciences Berlin

10/2002 - 02/2003

Michel Foucault's Discourse Theory and his Concept of Disciplinary Power, Department of Education, Helmut Schmidt-University Hamburg

04/2002 - 07/2002 

Humanism and conceptions of democracy of emigrated scientists (with Dr. Anja Göing), Department of Education, Helmut Schmidt-University Hamburg

10/1999 - 02/2000 

French Philosophers: Emmanuel Levinas and the Significance of his Philosophy for Educational Theory and Practice, Department of Educational Science, University of Hamburg

2024

since 01/2024, Member of the Global Advisory Board of the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity & Community Wellbeing, Prof. Dr. Karen Soldatic, Toronto Metropolitan University

2023

since 12/2023, Member of the Expert Advisory Council on Medical Assessment in Social Compensation Law at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS)

10/2023 - 07/2023, European Disability Expertise (EDE), human rights–based disability reporting on Germany for the European Commission

03/2023 - 10/2023, Member of the Editorial Board of the journal “Gemeinsam leben”

2022

since 01/2022, Advisor to the German Desk, Education Department, Yad Vashem, on the inclusive design of its educational history-didactic programmes in accordance with human rights–based accessibility standards

2021

10/2021 - 09/2022, Advisor to the German Desk, Education Department, Yad Vashem, on the inclusive design of its educational history-didactic programmes in accordance with human rights–based accessibility standards

since 09/2021, Advisor in the series of expert meetings of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing of the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Dr. Claudia Mahler, at the German Institute for Human Rights

2019

06/2019 – 11/2019, Jury member in the project “andersartig gedenken on stage”, a nationwide theatre competition on biographies of victims of Nazi “euthanasia”, organised by Arbeitsgemeinschaft gedenkort-T4.eu

2018

01/2018 - 04/2018, Advisor to the Senator for Social Affairs, Youth, Women, Integration and Sport, Unit 30 – Outpatient and Residential Housing for Persons with Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities, on the selection of needs assessment instruments for the State of Bremen in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Participation Act (BTHG)

2016

since 08/2016, Member of the International Network of Genocide Scholars (INoGS)

since 04/2016, Liaison Lecturer (Vertrauensdozentin) of the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung

since 01/2016, Jury member in the project “andersartig gedenken on stage”, a nationwide theatre competition on biographies of victims of Nazi “euthanasia”

2015

since 04/2015, Member of the jury “andersartig gedenken on stage”, school and youth theatre competition on biographies of victims of the Nazi “euthanasia” crimes

2014

since 06/2014, Member of the Network against Selection through Prenatal Diagnostics

since 01/2014, Member of the Advisory Board of the journal “RP Reha. Recht und Praxis der Rehabilitation. Journal of Rehabilitation, Participation and Severe Disability Law”

2013

07/2013 - 07/2014, Advisory Board member of the BMAS-funded “Pilot Study for a Representative Survey on the Participation of Persons with Disabilities” at Bielefeld University

10/2013, Review of the thematic issue “Disability” of the Federal Health Reporting, commissioned by the Robert Koch Institute

2011

08/2011 - 07/2014, Member of the Advisory Board of the research project “Inclusion as a Human Right” at the German Institute for Human Rights

since 05/2011, Member of the German Educational Research Association

03/2011 - 12/2020, Member of the German Society for Rehabilitation Sciences

since 02/2011, Member of the Gen-ethical Network (Gen-ethisches Netzwerk e.V.)

08/2011, Training for the Azerbaijani Ombudsman Institution for Human Rights, commissioned by GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit as representative of the German Institute for Human Rights, Baku, Azerbaijan

2010

since 09/2010, Member of Network Article 3, Association for Human Rights and Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities

2009

05/2009 - 10/2012, Member of the Advisory Board of the BMFSFJ study “Living Situation and Burdens of Women with Disabilities in Germany” at Bielefeld University