Disability Studies Minor

http://disability.uoregon.edu

Brian Trapp, Director
541-346-0508
108 Alder Building
trapp@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, sexuality and nationality.

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.

At least 12 of the required 24 credits must be taken at the University of Oregon; at least 12 must be upper-division credits.

Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements must be passed with a letter grade of at least C- or better. Fieldwork may receive a mark of P* where pass/no pass is the only grading option for the course.

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Visit disability.uoregon.edu for a full list of options.

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Fieldwork gives students direct contact with disability and deaf communities, and ranges from self-designed internships to such options as adaptive skiing, community theater, and consultation with international advocates.