Media Illusions: Creations of "The Disabled" Identity

Catalog description

Provides a critical analysis of past and present media constructions of persons with disabilities. Through exploring theory and research from diverse disciplines (communication, sociology, gerontology, educational psychology and others), students explore how perceptions of persons with disability are formed and analyze how the media is implicated in creating, distorting, and reflecting stereotypical and fictionalized images of disability. The course analyzes how these images shape public perception and reproduce the unequal power and privilege relationships that maintain the status quo while providing resources and techniques for the provision of alternative images of disability in various media genres. Cross-listed with EDP.