Disability, Difference, and Society

In this course we explore the varied and evolving meanings of disability—as category, lived experience, and way of interpreting the world, as well as the contexts that shape these meanings. As a First Year Seminar, primary attention centers on critical reading, thinking, writing, and collaborative skills. Course materials and assignments offer different disciplinary approaches and writing styles, fostering both individual and collective work. Films, on-line exhibits, music, advertising, popular media, and the material world reflect the wide range of sources on which this course draws. Dominant issues, including representation, education, employment, bioethics, institutions, community, policies, access, and justice serve as touchstones for research, analysis, and learning. Sustained attention to interlocking identities, including disability, race, ethnicity, Indigeneity, socioeconomic class, gender, sexual orientation and identification, and age define the field of disability studies and this course. While the United States is highlighted in this class, transnational and global components figure into our work as well. 3 hrs. sem.