Culture & Disability: Study Abroad in Ireland

Catalog description

Study aspects of culture and disability through lecture, visiting Irish disability service agencies, and guest speakers from various disability agencies. This course is designed to increase student awareness of disability from a cross-cultural comparison between the United States and Ireland including: personal, interpersonal, and societal aspects of disability, including how disability can be defined and understood differently in varied individual, institutional and cultural contexts. Students will learn models of disability that will help (a) clearly distinguish different ways of conceptualizing disability and (b) critically think about how disability is represented and understood in varied cultural contexts. Students will examine ethical, economic, and social implications of disability. Dynamics of group, family and individual behavior that impact interactions between people, with and without disabilities, will be addressed. Interactions and assignments will aid in the introduction of students to interpersonal communication and interaction issues among international cultures. A strong emphasis will be placed on understanding disability from a variety of cultural perspectives and assessing the impact of racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and socio-political factors on disability status. Throughout the course students will engage with various service providing agencies (which may include sensory disabilities, intellectual/cognitive disabilities, and physical disabilities). Class time will be allotted to prepare for engagement and reflection as well as providing background information for understanding global policy and how to make comparisons. Students will participate in a culminating activity, such as attending the International Disability Summer School that equips students with the insights and skills necessary to translate the generalities of international positions on disabilities into tangible reform for persons with disabilities and understand disability from a global perspective. This course meets the requirement for RHS 100 (RHS majors and RHS minors and honors students), and/or up to 6 credits toward 400 level elective requirements for RHS minors. SPLED students can earn up to 6 credits towards the SPLED minor