The leading disability law conference in the United States that brings nationally renowned disability rights advocates together.
At the Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, we examine issues, explore strategies, and pursue Jacobus tenBroek’s goal of integrationism—economic opportunity, social equality, and personal dignity for ourselves and all members of our disability rights community. The annual event honors the legacy of Dr. Jacobus tenBroek who founded the National Federation of the Blind in 1940.
2025 Dates and Location
Thursday, March 20 through Friday, March 21
National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute
200 East Wells Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
2025 Theme
Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law: Protecting Our Right to Live in the World
Request for Plenary Speakers and Workshop Facilitators
Submit a proposal to either speak during a plenary session or facilitate a workshop on one or more of the topics below. Proposed plenary sessions should include no more than two speakers, and proposed workshops should include no more than three facilitators. We strive to provide diverse and inclusive programming, so please consider how your presentation will encourage the exchange of differing ideas, experiences, and perspectives.
The broad topics for the 2025 symposium will be:
- The Importance of Democracy--Now More Than Ever
- Creative strategies for resilience
- Coalition building
- Loper Bright and protections for Chevron
- Access to every stage of the democratic process
- Who’s being kept out, why, and what can we do about it?
- Creative thinking on ways to make good law that is palatable to the current Supreme Court
- Disability rights, intersectionality, and disenfranchisement
- Disability rights and voting
- A Year in Review: Key Disability Rights Cases and What They Mean Moving Forward
- SCOTUS Watch
- Litigation strategies, techniques, and best practices in disability rights cases
- Legal strategies for enforcing disability rights
- Disability rights and the impact of race, gender, and sexual orientation on disability rights in all parts of the democratic process
- Updated rules and regulations
- Access to life in the 21st century
- How to get involved
How to Apply
Email a one-page plenary session/workshop proposal on or before November 1, 2024, that includes the following information:
- Name of presenter(s) and organization(s)
- Contact telephone number and email address for each presenter
- Plenary session/workshop title
- Description of the plenary session/workshop, including its main goals, the relevancy and timeliness of the topic/issues to be addressed, whether you have presented the workshop before, and how the speakers/facilitators/topics/issues will enhance the diversity and inclusiveness of the symposium
The above can be sent to [email protected] no later than Friday, November 1, 2024. Individuals who submit a proposal will be notified of the decision by November 11, 2024. Presenters will receive follow up emails and will be asked to join at least one Zoom call prior to the symposium to finalize their presentation logistics.
2025 Registration
Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium registration will open in January 2025.
CLE (Continuing Legal Education) Credit
Documentation for CLE credits will be provided.
Hotel Information
More information will be available in January 2025.
Diverse Views and Perspectives
The success of the Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium depends on the inclusion of all viewpoints and persuasions from the broadest spectrum of individuals and organizations in the disability rights community. Continuing Dr. tenBroek’s lifelong pursuit of dignity, equality, and full participation in society by the disabled requires the thoughts and ideas of people from diverse worlds and world views.
Steering Committee Members
Zainab Alkebsi
Tim Elder
Deepa Goraya
Jasmine Harris
Ronza Othman
Robyn Powell
Larkin Taylor-Parker
Shira Wakschlag
Jessie Weber
Rebecca Williford
Silvia Yee
Dr. Jacobus tenBroek's Publications
Dr. tenBroek's publications and speeches are as relevant and compelling today as they were decades ago. The archives in the Jacobus tenBroek Library are home to Dr. tenBroek’s collected works, and a detailed description of his personal and professional papers is available in THE CANE TIP. An accessible digital exhibit focused on Dr. tenBroek’s life and work is also available through Digital Maryland. For more information or to schedule a research appointment, please send an email to [email protected] or call 410-659-9314.
[A]s to the immutability of social attitudes and discriminatory actions towards the blind, we know from intimate experience that the sighted public wishes well for the blind and that its misconceptions are rather the result of innocence and superstition than of deliberate cruelty and malice aforethought. It is not the education of the sighted only which is needed to establish the right of the blind to equality and integration. Just as necessary is the education of the blind themselves. For the process of their rehabilitation ... is complete only when they have driven the last vestige of the public stereotype of the blind from their own minds. In this sense, and to this extent only, is it true that the blind person must "adjust" to his handicap and to society. His adjustment need not—indeed must not—mean his submission to all prevailing social norms and values. His goal is not conformity but autonomy: not acquiescence, but self-determination and self control. — Dr. Jacobus tenBroek
Past Symposia
Review highlights from previous Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposia on the past symposia page.
More Information
Additional details will be posted online as they become available. For more information, please contact Sanho Steele-Louchart by calling 410-659-9314, extension 2440 or by emailing [email protected].