WGSS 285Disability, Health & Normality

Catalog

Disability, Health, and Normality (3) We use words like "disability," "health," and "illness" every day, and yet we rarely pause to consider how our understanding of what is normal influences how we understand the present and how we imagine futures. In this course, students explore questions related to disability from an intersectional, interdisciplinary perspective. Based on narratives and knowledges created by disabled people, ranging from scholarly works and life writing to vlogs, television shows, and art, students critically examine the history of Western medicine, law, politics, and culture. Subjects range from depression and anxiety to autism to spina bifida, as well as Deaf culture, chronic illnesses, and body size. Students gain a deeper understanding of how health, ability, and normality are concepts that can continue structural inequalities in our contemporary moment. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: AMST-285, HLTH-285. Usually Offered: fall.