Disability Rhetoric

Catalog description

This course presents the political and social positioning of disability in multiple contexts, including the rhetorical traditions of ancient Greece, the Commonwealth of Virginia's eugenics laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students will examine how the concept of disability is a rhetorical construct and will build knowledge about how language is utilized to shape current and prior models of disability, including rhetorical, political, historical, educational, legal and medical frameworks. The course culminates in the creation of an accessible online project that highlights individual students' scholarly interests, created following universal design principles.