DR. ANDREA ZITTLAU
Faculty of Philosophy
University of Rostock
Germany
Andrea Zittlau teaches literature and cultural analysis in the American Studies department at the University of Rostock, Germany. Her publications include the monograph Curious Exotica on ethnographic museum displays and the edited volume Exploring the Cultural History of Central European Feakshows and Enfreakment (together with Anna Kerchy) on the exhibition of othered bodies. She frequently crosses the boundaries between academia and art. Her artwork combines poetry, images and performance art and deals with political, social and environmental concerns.
– PLENARY SPEAKERS-
DR. JOEL SNYDER
President Audio Description Associates,
LLC, and Director Audio Description Project,
American Council of the Blind,
USA.
Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of Audio Description, a translation of visual images to vivid language. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 62 countries; in 2014, the American Council of the Blind published Dr. Snyder’s book, The Visual Made Verbal – A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description, now available as an audio book voiced by Dr. Snyder, in English, Polish, Russian, Portuguese and in Braille.
DR. REGINALD M. J. ODUORS
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy,
University of Nairobi,
Kenya.
Dr. Reginald M.J. Oduor lost his sight at the age of one. He holds a B.Ed. (Hons.) and an M.A. in Philosophy both from Kenyatta University, and a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Nairobi. He is the first person with total visual disability to be appointed to a substantive teaching position in a public university in Kenya. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Nairobi. Over the past thirty-one years, he has lectured philosophy in five universities (two full time, three part time). He has special interests in African philosophy, political philosophy, ethics, the rights of persons with disabilities, and philosophy of religion. He has published a number of journal articles, book reviews and feature articles. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the New Series of Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya from 2009 to 2015. He is Lead Editor of the volume, Odera Oruka in the Twenty-First Century (RVP 2018), and sole editor of the forthcoming volume, Africa Beyond Liberal Democracy: the Search for Indigenous Models of Democracy for the Twenty-First Century (Unisa Press).
Dr. Oduor is the Co-founder of the Society of Professionals with Visual Disabilities (SOPVID), which aims to promote professional excellence among its members. He has also served as Council Member at the kenya Society for the Blind, and Board Member at the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust. Besides, he is a member of the Caucus for Disability Rights Advocacy (CDRA), which audits Kenyan public policies and legislation for disability inclusiveness. He has also facilitated numerous disability sensitisation sessions at the University of nairobi, where he has been a member of Disability Mainstreaming Committees at both college and university-wide levels, as well as in numerous other public institutions in Kenya.