Department of English

This course will introduce students to the field of disability studies through literature. We will consider key terms such as ableism, access, medicalization, representation, prosthesis, and stigma. We will also discuss the ways that disability intersects with other aspects of identity such as race, class, gender, and sexuality. Our syllabus will span from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first century and will include novels, poems, memoirs, and films, as well as critical essays written by leading disability studies scholars. Through our readings and discussions, we will question the historical construction of bodily and mental norms and consider how narratives both resist and conform to societal conceptions of disability. No prior knowledge is necessary.