Disability Studies

Students investigate the local and global origins of a contemporary social problem through the eyes of social justice activists. Students will assess the strengths and limitations of strategies and theoretical frameworks for social change and use this knowledge to create social action messages that raise public awareness, influence government or corporate policy, or positively change attitudes and behaviours. (3 lecture hours per week.) (Also offered as Social Justice Studies SJST-1000.)

This course explores the multiple meanings of disability and emphasizes the lived experience and knowledge generated by people with disabilities. It critically examines how Western economic, medical, moral, and social norms produce social exclusion and marginalization. It introduces students to key Disability Studies theorists, theories, and social justice models that resist ableism by addressing issues of access, accommodation, cultural representation, and identity. This course uses an intersectional framework to consider how variances in race, ethnicity, gender-identity, sexuality, class, citizenship, and culture impact both individual and collective experiences of disability. It considers how Disability Studies differs from other disciplinary approaches to disability, understands disability as a social construct, and positions disability as difference rather than deficit.(Prerequisite: SJST/DISB-1000.)

This course will select national and international milestones highlighting people, events, and legislation that have affected disability rights. It will include historical discussions about significant dates related to the eugenics movement, the civil rights movement, the self-help movement, deinstitutionalization, demedicalization, and consumerism. Emphasis will be placed upon Canadian history with comparison with historical developments in other countries. This course will expose current issues, controversies, and trends in disability and teach students how to interpret historical documents, court cases, media reports, and other materials. It will use case studies to analyze the ideological, socioeconomic, and political history of disability. (Prerequisite: DISB 2010)

Students will critically review traditional approaches to professional practice with people with disabilities, with special attention to the role of the professional. Using case studies, students will explore professional intervention strategies that promote full participation and equality for people with disabilities. Other themes include self-determination and choice, supporting disability rights and self-advocacy organizations, and building alliances. Recognizing how important family is to many people with disabilities, this course will also explore the implications of the views and experiences of family members. Stressing the need for empowerment, this course introduces students to social change movements as led by people in search of full citizenship who have disabilities. The implications for empowerment, created by the advent of new technologies, is also explored. (Prerequisite for Social Work/Disability Studies BSW Students: DISB 2010. Prerequisite for all other students: DISB 3020)

This course helps the student understand how to put the social model of disability into practice. It will encourage students to analyze power, inequality and influence and then to build strategies for actions. It will promote a team-oriented approach by using case studies to examine the issues of access and related policies and practices that support or impede inclusion. Theoretical and practical approaches draw from the perspective that people supported by human services need opportunities to lead dignified lives with the means to exercise greater personal choice, control and independence. The Independent Living model and organization exposes students to multiple issues that involve the actions of consumer leaders, activists and managers in designing, organizing and changing services and support models for people with disabilities. This course considers how people with disabilities access societal and community resources, engage socially, and take part in policy development and implementation. (Prerequisite: DISB 4010)

This two course equivalent sequence is a field placement, designed to enable students to apply and integrate the various theoretical perspectives and themes explored in the Disability Studies program through implementation of a community based project. Students will work with people with disabilities in community agencies and programs and develop respectful and empowering professional skills. Students will also have the opportunity to gain knowledge of an issue or area of specific interest. This will necessitate the development of an individual or group project of interest and importance to the organization involved.(Prerequisite: DISB 3010, DISB 3020: Semester 7 standing in Disability Studies Program)(Co-requisites: DISB 4010, DISB 4020).(Anti-requisite: DISB 4610)