FREN 3520 - (Dis)ability Studies: A Brief History

(crosslisted) FGSS 3520
(LA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

K. Long.

This course will offer an historical overview of responses to bodily and cognitive difference. What was the status of the monster, the freak, the abnormal, the (dis)abled, and how are all of these concepts related? How have we moved from isolation and institutionalization towards universal design and accessibility as the dominant concepts relative to (dis)ability? Why is this shift from focusing on individual difference as a negative attribute to reshaping our architectural and more broadly social constructions important for everyone? What are our ethical responsibilities towards those we label as “disabled”? Authors to be studied include: Ambroise Paré, Emmanuel Levinas, Georges Canguilhem, Michel Foucault, Lennard Davis, Tobin Siebers, Simon Baron-Cohen.