SHSS Student Directs Blind Powerlifting World Championship Competition

Robert Keller, doctoral candidate in the Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), is director of the International Blind Sports Federation Powerlifting and Bench Press World Championship and recently held an historic world champion event in Miami on July 10-11, 2009.

Keller was lauded by IBSA Vice President Peter Thorne for his extraordinary efforts in arranging for the participation of the Iranian team in the blind powerlifters competition. Keller worked with agencies, including the U.S. State Department , the International Olympic Committee, and the United States Association of Blind Athletes, to make the event possible and to enable the athletes from Iran to participate. Thorne indicated that, “The brotherhood of the athletes, especially the bond that developed between the American and Iranian athletes, stands out.”

Keller’s dissertation focuses on the use of Track II Diplomacy and athletics as a means to build bridges to foster communication and understanding between people.