Disability Studies Minor

http://disability.uoregon.edu

Elizabeth Wheeler, Director
541-346-3929
238 Prince Lucien Campbell Hall
ewheeler@uoregon.edu

Disability studies is a dynamic interdisciplinary minor that considers disability as a civil and human rights issue, an identity, a community, a history, and a form of critical analysis. Disability studies investigates how different cultures define normality and abnormality in terms of bodies and minds, and how the resultant distinctions impact peoples’ everyday lives. Rather than approaching disability as a problem in need of a cure, disability studies as a field understands disability as a defining human experience that offers unique perspectives on culture and society. It explores issues and histories from the viewpoints of disabled people and communities, in intersection with other identities like race, class, gender, and sexuality.

Minor in Disability Studies

The minor in disability studies prepares students for a growing range of careers through study of disability and deaf cultures, politics, and histories in fields such as international development, health, design, sign language interpreting, education, and nonprofit management. The interdisciplinary program of study ranges across the university, and many courses fulfill university general-education, multicultural, and second-language requirements.

Course work required for the minor must be passed with grades of mid-C or better. At least 12 of the required 24 credits must be taken at the University of Oregon; at least 12 must be upper-division credits.

All courses must be taken for a letter grade (except for internships associated with Fieldwork) and passed with a C- or better to count toward the minor.