HHS 323: Introduction to Critical Disability Studies

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the emergent field of Disability Studies and to the relationship between disability and gender, sexuality, race, class, and other identities. Students will engage the topic of disability through diverse perspectives, including their own personal values and beliefs as they relate to disability and society. This course will include an introduction to Disability Studies history, vocabulary, and the models that frame disability discourse as well as an exploration of key concepts from women’s and gender studies such as the social construction of identity and intersectionality through the lens of disability. Course readings and topics will include the history of immigration and disability, eugenics, the disability justice movement and its relationship to the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Movement, disability culture, and disabled sexuality and reproductive justice. The course materials will include academic articles, personal narratives, films, and podcasts and course assignments will encourage students to connect course content to their own experiences, identities, and future careers. (W).