Summer 2017 - EDUC 391 D100

Special Topics

Challenging "Normal"

Class Number: 4894

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 8 – Jun 19, 2017: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

    May 8 – Jun 19, 2017: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    GOLDCORP

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores major issues of present concern. Subjects to be taught and the exact assignment of units will be announced prior to the beginning of each term. Course may be given on a pass/fail basis. A maximum of 12 units in education special topics courses may be used toward a bachelor of education degree or a bachelor of general studies (EDUC) degree. Variable units 2, 3, 4, 6.

COURSE DETAILS:

COURSE TITLE:
Challenging "Normal": Youth, Popular Culture & Contemporary Arts
 
*Attendance on the first day of class is mandatory. Waitlisted students that wish to enroll in the course should attend the first day.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
From Thumbelina in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales to Capitan Hook in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan to Alaster “Mad Eye” Moody in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, characters with disabilities are consistently represented as playthings, outsiders, or
monsters in popular cultural texts for youth. This interdisciplinary course seeks to examine familiar stereotypical representations and to understand how children’s literature teaches about dis/ability outside of the formal school setting. Given the wide circulation
of images and narratives of dis/ability in children’s culture, it is imperative for educators and others to understand how such representations of dis/ability work to reify certain kinds of bodies and behaviours as “normal.”

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

OBJECTIVES
This course is co-taught by Elizabeth Marshall, associate professor in the Faculty of Education and Rob Kitsos, associate professor in the School of Contemporary Arts. Students will have a traditional “academic” introduction to theories of dis/ability and will be immersed in critical analyses of children’s books, film, and toys on Tuesdays. On Thursdays, students meet at Woodwards and work through the course material by working with sound, lighting, movement, and other arts based modalities. The objective is for undergraduate students from education, contemporary arts, and other disciplines to critically examine and reimagine how dis/ability is represented in children’s literature as a way to begin challenging ‘normal.’

Grading

  • The course includes: individual study, daily assignments, research, small group and whole-class discussion, a mid-term and a final exam.The course will be graded on a regular letter grade scale.
  • Daily Assignments/Summary 25%
  • Mid Term Paper/Performance 25%
  • Final Take Home Essay/Performance 50%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

 
Bell, C. (2014). El Deafo. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
978-1419712173
 
Kaysen, S. (1994). Girl, interrupted. New York: Vintage.
0679746048
 
Palacio, R.J. (2012).Wonder. New York: Knopf.
978-0375869020

Additional readings assigned in class.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/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

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS