Disability in Contemporary and Twentieth Century American Culture 4219-SH019

Disability has been considered and oftentimes represented as a misfortune and fall from grace, a punishment for wrongdoings, a marker of mental or moral inferiority, a struggle to be virtuously suffered, or a challenge to be overcome, while the disabled person was subject to medical investigation, control and objectification, and encouraged to overcome his or her disability. The disability rights movement has been trying to change these individualized and medicalized understandings of disability, pointing to society and environment as disabling factors. Disability studies follow suit with their efforts to deconstruct and denaturalize received notions of norms regarding able-bodiedness and consequences of impairments. During the class we shall consider the context for the shift in thinking about disability, as well as analyze various popular and literary texts and films that challenge both the medical and social models of disability. We will analyze the concepts of body, madness, agency, care, and interdependency from disability studies perspective. We will think about the interface of disability with race, sexuality, and gender; as well as, learn about social justice movement organized about disability.
The topics we will focus on include: theories of disability, disability and identity politics, disability history, and life writing by people with disabilities.

The order and scope of the the above topics is subject to change.

Type of course

elective courses

Prerequisites (description)

To fully participate in the course students should have a good knowledge of English: can hold an academic discussion in English, can read academic texts in English, can understand literary texts and audiovisual materials in English. This course does not require a prior knowledge of Disability Studies, but some knowledge of academic theories regarding cultural studies, gender studies, and feminist theory may be useful.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge
Upon completing this course a student:
a) knows the different conceptualizations of disability both mental and corporal
b) knows the basics of the disability history in America
c) uses terminology connected to disability studies, crip theory, and fat studies
d) is aware of challenges ableism creates for society
e) has preliminary knowledge of concepts related to medicalization and biopower
f) is familiar with the ways in which disability has been represented in American popular culture in the twentieth and twenty first century

Skills:
Upon completing this course a student:
a) is able to identify and deconstruct ableist and sizeist content
b) has the skills to use disability studies theory in analysis of U.S. society and culture
c) formulates critical arguments on topics related to disability and able-bodiedness
d) has the critical writing skills and produces academic texts related to disability

Competences:
Upon completing this course a student:
a) is able to critically engage with literary and theoretical texts
b) actively participates in class discussions on complicated topics
c) can select and evaluate key ideas and arguments from texts
d) can conduct observations and draw conclusions on the basis of information gathered and selected

Assessment criteria

Students need minimum of 60% to pass the course.

Students are required to attend classes, read/watch assigned materials and participate in class discussions. (20 points for participation)

Students will submit response papers and viewing questions to texts and AV materials (4 responses per semester, between 500 and 1000 words). Students may submit only one response per week. (20 points total, 5 per response)

Students are required to conduct an observation of University of Warsaw’s accommodation for people with disabilities and write an ethnographic report based on their observations (guidelines will be provided by instructors, 1000-1200 words). (30 points)

Each student is required to select one thematic section to write a short essay (1500-2000 words) engaging with the section’s theme. Instead of a short essay students may prepare projects that creatively engage with the issues discussed. All such projects need to be consulted with and approved by the instructors. (30 points)

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All papers MUST be submitted in TNR 12, double spaced, and conform to CMS citiation format.

Students are allowed two abseneces.

No late work will be accepted.

Instructor may refuse a paper that does not meet the formal criteria or is sent digitally.

Any detected case of plagiarism will lead to a failing grade. To read more about plagiarism and how to avoid it, see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/

Bibliography

Please note that some texts may still change.

Primary readings will include:
Freaks dir. Tod Browning,
We Can’t Read This, Meg Day
Million Dollar Baby dir. Clint Eastwood,
Kindred, Octavia Butler
Exile and Pride, Eli Clare
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy
Blind Rage: Letters to Helen Keller, Georgina Kleege

Secondary readings will include:
Disability Theory, Tobin Siebers
Cultural Locations of Disability, Sharon L. Snyder and David T. Mitchell
Defining Deviance: Sex, Science, and Delinquent Girls 1890-1960, Michael A. Rembis
Defining Mental Disability, Margaret Price
Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History, Douglas Baynton
Metaphorically Speaking: Ableist Metaphors in Feminist Writing, Sami Schalk
Sideshow U.S.A., Rachel Adams
Extraordinary Bodies, Rosemarie Garland-Thompson
Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory, Rosemarie Garland-Thompson
Unhealthy Disabled: Treating Chronic Illnesses as Disabilities, Susan Wendell
When Disability and Race Intersect, David M. Perry