The UB reflects on hearing impairment in a conference on university inclusion
News
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Academic
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Solidarity
(10/02/2025)
Today, Monday 10 February, the University of Barcelona hosted the conference “Discapacitat Auditiva: Visibilitat i Accessibilitat a la Universitat” at the Historic Building’s Aula Magna. This initiative is organized by the UB Chair-Cassià Just Foundation - Cuina Justa on Integration of People with Disabilities with the aim of reflecting on the challenges that must be faced in the academic and professional environment of the University of Barcelona. Among the attendees were the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, and the vice-rector for Equality, Inclusion and Gender, Montserrat Puig, and the vice-rector for Students and University Life, Marta Ferrer.
News
|
Academic
|
Solidarity
10/02/2025
Today, Monday 10 February, the University of Barcelona hosted the conference “Discapacitat Auditiva: Visibilitat i Accessibilitat a la Universitat” at the Historic Building’s Aula Magna. This initiative is organized by the UB Chair-Cassià Just Foundation - Cuina Justa on Integration of People with Disabilities with the aim of reflecting on the challenges that must be faced in the academic and professional environment of the University of Barcelona. Among the attendees were the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, and the vice-rector for Equality, Inclusion and Gender, Montserrat Puig, and the vice-rector for Students and University Life, Marta Ferrer.
In his speech, the rector stressed “the relevance of the event because of what it means for the university to interpret the inclusive fact”. He also stressed that “the discourse on inclusion has — fortunately — become more diverse and complex as we have become closer”. For her part, Montserrat Puig pointed out that “there are still many situations to be solved in this area and institutions must learn to adapt to the different learning needs of these groups”. Marta Ferrer stressed that “there is increasing diversity in the university community. This enriches us, but it also presents us with constant challenges”.
After the institutional welcome, Marina Romeo, lecturer of the Faculty of Psychology and director of the UB Chair-Cassià Just Foundation - Cuina Justa on Integration of People with Disabilities, presented the event and highlighted the need to give visibility to the experiences of people with hearing disabilities and to identify strategies. This was followed by the screening of the documentary Apunts en blanc, produced by a group of students with hearing impairment, who shared their experiences and difficulties in their academic careers. This was followed by a discussion chaired by Jordi Molina, head of the Integration Programmes Unit of the Student Support Service (SAE), with the participation of some of the characters of the documentary, as well as representatives of the Federation of Catalan Associations of Families and People with Deafness (ACAPPS), an organization that works to improve the inclusion of people with hearing impairment. Tania Galián, a Sociology student and volunteer technician at ACAPPS, and Andreu Espinach, a prospecting technician at the same organization, gave first-hand accounts of the difficulties they have had to overcome in order to access information and keep up with the academic pace on equal terms. Meanwhile, Laia Sullastres, technical director of ACAPPS, and Raquel Díez, head of Alliances, Participation and Volunteering at the organization, analysed the tools and resources that can facilitate the inclusion of students with hearing disabilities at the university.
This was followed by a round table discussion on hearing impairment in the university environment, chaired by Àngels Ibáñez, head of the Student Support Services (SAE). The session included presentations by Mireia Ribera, lecturer at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science and coordinator of the Adaptabit Teaching Innovation Group, who spoke about the technological tools that can facilitate accessibility in academic environments, and Maria Josep Jarque, lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and expert on sign language linguistics, who stressed the importance of including sign language as a resource to guarantee communication in the classroom. Students Raúl Ruiz, from the degree in Biochemistry, and Miriam Jiménez, from the degree in History of Art, shared their experiences and insisted on the need to improve teacher training in accessibility.
The event concluded with a speech by Marina Romeo, who summed up the main conclusions of the conference and emphasized the need to continue to make progress on specific measures to improve the inclusion of people with hearing disabilities at university.
The UB Chair-Cassià Just Foundation - Cuina Justa on Integration of People with Disabilities was created in May 2024 thanks to the collaboration between the UB, the Cassià Just Foundation, the UB School of New Interactive Technologies (ENTI) and the FIATC Foundation. The Chair has set itself the objective of promoting training, awareness-raising, research and knowledge transfer actions to improve the conditions of inclusion of people with disabilities.
After the institutional welcome, Marina Romeo, lecturer of the Faculty of Psychology and director of the UB Chair-Cassià Just Foundation - Cuina Justa on Integration of People with Disabilities, presented the event and highlighted the need to give visibility to the experiences of people with hearing disabilities and to identify strategies. This was followed by the screening of the documentary Apunts en blanc, produced by a group of students with hearing impairment, who shared their experiences and difficulties in their academic careers. This was followed by a discussion chaired by Jordi Molina, head of the Integration Programmes Unit of the Student Support Service (SAE), with the participation of some of the characters of the documentary, as well as representatives of the Federation of Catalan Associations of Families and People with Deafness (ACAPPS), an organization that works to improve the inclusion of people with hearing impairment. Tania Galián, a Sociology student and volunteer technician at ACAPPS, and Andreu Espinach, a prospecting technician at the same organization, gave first-hand accounts of the difficulties they have had to overcome in order to access information and keep up with the academic pace on equal terms. Meanwhile, Laia Sullastres, technical director of ACAPPS, and Raquel Díez, head of Alliances, Participation and Volunteering at the organization, analysed the tools and resources that can facilitate the inclusion of students with hearing disabilities at the university.
This was followed by a round table discussion on hearing impairment in the university environment, chaired by Àngels Ibáñez, head of the Student Support Services (SAE). The session included presentations by Mireia Ribera, lecturer at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science and coordinator of the Adaptabit Teaching Innovation Group, who spoke about the technological tools that can facilitate accessibility in academic environments, and Maria Josep Jarque, lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and expert on sign language linguistics, who stressed the importance of including sign language as a resource to guarantee communication in the classroom. Students Raúl Ruiz, from the degree in Biochemistry, and Miriam Jiménez, from the degree in History of Art, shared their experiences and insisted on the need to improve teacher training in accessibility.
The event concluded with a speech by Marina Romeo, who summed up the main conclusions of the conference and emphasized the need to continue to make progress on specific measures to improve the inclusion of people with hearing disabilities at university.
The UB Chair-Cassià Just Foundation - Cuina Justa on Integration of People with Disabilities was created in May 2024 thanks to the collaboration between the UB, the Cassià Just Foundation, the UB School of New Interactive Technologies (ENTI) and the FIATC Foundation. The Chair has set itself the objective of promoting training, awareness-raising, research and knowledge transfer actions to improve the conditions of inclusion of people with disabilities.
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