The Disability Law and Policy Program (DLPP) houses the nation’s first Joint Degree Program in Law and Disability Studies, a Curricular Program in Disability Law and Policy, and the Disability Rights Clinic as well as disability-related summer and semester-long externships in New York and Washington, DC.
Led by Professor Arlene Kanter, DLPP is the most extensive disability-related law school program in the United States. Students who participate in this program often go on to jobs in the areas of disability, education, special education, children’s rights, civil rights, labor, employment, trusts and estates, and international human rights law. Graduates of DLPP now work for federal and state government agencies, private law firms, domestic and international non-governmental organizations, public interest law offices, legal services offices, school districts, policy organizations and think tanks. Other graduates have started their own law practices or pursued LL.M. or Ph.D. degrees. DLPP students also work in the College of Law’s Disability Rights Clinic, take disability-related courses, and work as interns and externs in disability-related placements in New York City, Washington, DC, and other cities in the US and throughout the world. “DLPP is the most extensive disability-related law school program in the United States, and perhaps the world,” says Professor Kanter, whose work outside of teaching included assisting the United Nations in drafting its Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The DLPP is recognized internationally for its excellence, having received the Prize for Innovative Practices for our innovative disability-related academic program at the Zero Project Conference, held at the United Nations Offices in Vienna, Austria, on Feb. 20, 2020. The Zero Project is an initiative of the Essl Foundation, whose mission is to create a world without barriers, as envisioned by the United Nations CRPD.
Experts across the globe peer-reviewed more than 500 Zero Project-nominated projects, which focused on the topic of inclusive education. Of the nominees, 75 innovative practices and 11 innovative policies from 54 countries were selected. The DLPP was one of only three awarded programs in the United States and the only United States-based university program.
Disability Law and Policy Curricular Program Courses Joint Degree Programs Disability Rights Clinic Disability Law Society
DLPP News and Updates
See the latest commentary from our DLPP leadership on newsworthy topics related to disability law, along with program updates and information.
The ADA at 32: Understanding the Rights of Disabled Asylum-Seekers
In 2022, DLPP Director, Professor Arlene Kanter, spoke about the Americans with Disabilities Act and rights of immigrants with disabilities.
DLPP Announces SU Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (‘CUSE) Grant on the Effectiveness of Human Rights Treaties
In 2019, Professor Arlene S. Kanter was awarded a Syracuse University Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (‘CUSE) Grant with the following faculty collaborators:
- Professor Cora True Frost, College of Law
- Research Professor Corri Zoli, College of Law
- Professor Audie Klotz, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Political Science)
- Assistant Professor Lamis E. Abdelaaty, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Political Science)
- Associate Professor Michael Gill, School of Education (Disability Studies)
- Professor Anne Bellows, Falk College (Food Studies)