First Virtual Master's Program for persons with disabilities in Asean

Students with disabilities in Asean will attend the world's first virtual master's program on disability and public policy.

The first global cohort from the ASEAN region selected by The Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP) —which has one of the world's highest proportions of disabled people as estimated by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific—will gather for a two week residency in Bangkok, Thailand, beginning on 18 July to launch the inaugural cohort.

Mahidol University and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability are hosting the residency, including students who are blind or visually impaired; deaf or hard of hearing; and/or mobility impaired. During the residency, the international IDPP faculty will introduce students to ASEAN affairs, cross-cultural communication, research methods, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, Executive Director of the IDPP; Associate Professor at American University's School of International Service; and Director of the Center for Research on Collaboratories and Technology Enhanced Learning Communities (COTELCO), said that the IDPP is an attempt to increase inclusion for persons with disabilities. "The Master's program will provide further access to higher education for a traditionally underrepresented population," he said.

The IDPP's goal is to cut across geographic boundaries and time zones via its cyberinfrastructure to allow faculty to teach students entirely online using both synchronous and asynchronous approaches. Cogburn said that the IDPP will achieve its goals ―through a network of outstanding universities and accessible cyberlearning techniques, enabling students to become leaders on international disability policy in the public, private, and NGO sectors.