Course Description

This course is an introduction to the emerging multidisciplinary field of Disability Studies. Students who complete the course will be knowledgeable about: the roots of Disability Studies in the Disability Rights Movement and the political activism and self-advocacy of people with disabilities; the emergence of Disability Studies within the university and other academic settings; the incorporation of the experience of disability and the perspectives of people with disabilities within its core knowledge and research base; disability statistics, disability and impairment definitions, and demographics of disability; the relationship between disability studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies and the special challenges faced by women and minorities with disabilities; the definition of disability as a social construct as distinct from a medical model of disability; the relationship and challenge of Disability Studies to fields of professional practice including rehabilitation counseling, special education, social work and medicine; links between Disability Studies and the Humanities including the new disability history, and the representation of disability in art, literature and the media; the key role of Disability Studies in articulating and implementing the ADA and other legal and human rights of people with disabilities; the importance of Disability Studies in furthering the principles of normalization, self-determination, inclusion and independent living for people with disabilities; links between poverty and other socio-economic conditions and disability; the role of disability studies in the formulation of social welfare and other public policies in the delivery of services and supports to people with disabilities; and the value of disability studies in helping to understand disability within American culture and cultures throughout the world.

Assignments and Program Goals

This paper demonstrates my mastery of program goal # 5 Ability to demonstrate their application of knowledge in disability-related practice.

Reflection Paper #1 - (upload your work here)

This paper demonstrates my mastery of program goal # 4 Familiarity with Disability and the Arts / Creativity in Disability Culture

Final Paper - (upload work here)