Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2022 - GSWS 315 D100

Critical Disability Studies (4)

Class Number: 6817

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 10 – Apr 11, 2022: Fri, 12:30–4:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    15 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores interdisciplinary perspectives on the concept and experience of disability; situates disability as a formation of identity and power that differently intersects with gender, race, sexuality, nationality, and class; addresses disability as a key aspect of lived experience and a global vector of oppression and resistance. Students with credit for GSWS 321 Special Topic under the title Critical Disability Studies may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course will introduce students to key questions and debates in the interdisciplinary field of disability studies. Drawing from a range of texts and media, we will explore the social, political, and representational dimensions of disability. Throughout, we will attend closely to the ways that the category and experience of disability differently intersects with formations of gender, race, sexuality, nationality, and class.

Some questions that we will explore include: How and why do minds and bodies get categorized as “normal” or “abnormal,” and what is at stake in these definitions? What is the relation between our bodies and their environments – from the buildings we live in to the air we breathe? How do technologies—prosthetics, pharmaceuticals, and amniocentesis—force us to reconsider what it means to be human? How do people with disabilities negotiate sexual desires and identities? In what ways has mental and physical difference been disciplined through institutions such as asylums, prisons, and schools? And, how do performances of disability in art, activism, or biomedicine reinforce or reimagine cultural categories of ability?

 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website:
http://www.sfu.ca/gsws/undergraduate/courses/Educational_Goals.html

 

Grading

  • Attendance and Participation 10%
  • Weekly Modules (2 points discussion, 1 point drawing over 10 weeks) 20%
  • Accessibility Checklist 15%
  • Audio Description Project 30%
  • Final Project (2 Reflection Papers, 1 Research Paper, or Creative/Community Piece) 25%

NOTES:

“Laugh and cry and tell stories. Sad stories about bodies stolen, bodies no longer here. Enraging stories about the false images, devastating lies, untold violence. Bold, brash stories about reclaiming our bodies and changing the world.”

- Eli Clare, Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and, Liberation

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

  • Clem Martini and Olivier Martini, 2010, Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir of Mental Illness
  • J. Withers, 2012, Disability Politics & Theory
  • Eli Clare, Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation(2015 edition, Duke University Press)

RECOMMENDED READING:

  • Ellen Samuels, 2014, Fantasies of Identification: Disability, Gender, Race.
  • Alison Kafer, 2013,Feminist, Queer, Crip.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

TEACHING AT SFU IN SPRING 2022

Teaching at SFU in spring 2022 will involve primarily in-person instruction, with safety plans in place.  Some courses will still be offered through remote methods, and if so, this will be clearly identified in the schedule of classes.  You will also know at enrollment whether remote course components will be “live” (synchronous) or at your own pace (asynchronous).

Enrolling in a course acknowledges that you are able to attend in whatever format is required.  You should not enroll in a course that is in-person if you are not able to return to campus, and should be aware that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who may need class or exam accommodations, including in the context of remote learning, are advised to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as early as possible in order to prepare for the spring 2022 term.