Disability Studies Minor

Disability Studies Minor

The Disability Studies (DS) Minor teaches students about the social, cultural, and institutional systems that shape ideas about disability, and how these systems in turn impact the lives of disabled people. Fundamental to the field of Disability Studies is the idea that disability is a dimension of social diversity and enriches our communities.

Why Minor in DS?

The Disability Studies minor can enhance your coursework, your future career, and your graduate school applications. In particular, the DS minor will:

• enable those in the humanities and social sciences to develop interdisciplinary skills to enhance their major coursework and help them envision new career paths in such fields as professional writing, advocacy, non-profit fundraising, and communications;
• provide opportunities to study interdisciplinary approaches to disability for students planning careers in special education, rehabilitation services, and other fields that involve working with disabled people;
• enable pre-med, nursing, and public health students, as well as students in other programs related to medicine, to study the non-medical dimensions of disability and consider how to improve patient care;
• provide a valuable credential for students applying for graduate work in interdisciplinary fields, higher education, and medical fields;
• enable all students to gain familiarity with the experiences and perspectives of disabled people and gain insight into an important dimension of social justice.

 

What Will I Learn?

While working towards the DS minor, students will 

• learn about the lived experiences of disabled people, disability culture, and disability activism;
• learn about the ways that disability intersects with other identities, including gender, race, sexuality, and class;
• learn about the historical and present-day contributions of disabled individuals, as well as the ways that disability enriches society;
• learn about and apply the key terms and concepts in the interdisciplinary field of Disability Studies;
• learn about how aspects of society such as laws, architecture, and educational systems impact the lives of disabled people;
• learn about how the histories of disability and medicine help to explain current ideas about disability;
• learn about specific ways that disability is “constructed” by culture, including by literature, film, art, advertisements, and other media;
• learn about bioethical issues related to disability and philosophical debates about how to distinguish disability from medical pathology, impairment, and ill-being.

Faculty Affiliates

MEET OUR COORDINATOR AND AFFILIATES

Do you have a question about the Disability Studies minor? Click above to get the contact information for coordinator.

Curriculum

Students will take 6 hours of required core courses on Disability Studies, as well as 12 hours of related elective courses.  

Availability