A2Ethics is thrilled to kick off our "Authors Talk" interview series—in which we chat with past Michigan High School Ethics Bowl case study authors—with Michael Szporluk, who authored the 2017 case "Persons with Disabilities in Institutions." 

Michael Szporluk has been working in the international relief and development field for more than two decades. He has worked in Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia for local and international organizations on a range of development and dialogue projects, and led the European Centre for Minority Issues’ Policy Dialogue Initiative in Macedonia. Michael spent four years as a research officer and analyst in the Office of the Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. For the past eight years, he has focused on advocacy for the universal rights of persons with disabilities across the world. His most recent publication is a strategic plan, commissioned by the city of Portland, Oregon, to increase employment as well as access opportunities of persons with disabilities. Michael grew up in Ann Arbor and is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a Master's Degree in Public Policy. 

In this interview, we chat about his case, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Social Model of Disability, and how they interact with larger issues of human rights.