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The US-American philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum is one of the founders of the Capabilities Approach – an internationally acclaimed theoretical model designed to point out what people need to have in order to live a good and successful life. She developed the approach together with the economist and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen.  Professor Martha C. Nussbaum is being awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Educational Science for her work. The public ceremony will be held on Monday 27 June at 3.30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 7 at Bielefeld University. This award ceremony will be proceeded by an international conference on 'Human Development Perspectives' on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 June.

The conference is being organized by the Bielefeld Center for Education and Capability Research at the Faculty of Education of Educational Science. The focus of papers and discussions is on the Capabilities Approach and what it can contribute to our understanding of the potentials of human development. The approach addresses which abilities people need to shape their lives in a self-determined way. Socio-political actors and institutions such as education and welfare services play a central role in this field because they are so decisively involved in both creating and preventing social justice in society.

Guests at the conference are scientists from renowned universities and research institutes in France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. They work in the disciplines of philosophy, social work, education science, business administration, and economics, and their research topics include education, poverty, sustainability, and security.

The award of the honorary doctorate to Martha C. Nussbaum marks the festive conclusion of the conference. The laudatio will be held by the educational scientist Professor Dr. Micha Brumlik from Frankfurt University. Martha C. Nussbaum is considered to be one of the most distinguished philosophers of our times. She is Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago and has been studying social justice for more than 20 years.  Her latest publication, Creating Capabilities, will receive particular attention at the conference. Nussbaum has written this book in order to make the capability approach accessible to a broader public.

The conference "Human Development Perspectives" begins on Sunday 26 June at 1 p.m. at Bielefeld University and continues on the following day at 9.15 a.m. All who are interested are invited to attend the award ceremony on 27 June at 3.30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 7 at which Professor Martha C. will give a speech on 'Human Capabilities and Global Justice'.

For more information in the Internet, go to:
www.bca-research.net

Contact:
Dr. Sabine Schäfer, Bielefeld University
Research School “Education and Capabilities”
Tel.: 0521 106-6064
E-Mail: sabine.schaefer@uni-bielefeld.de