Carleton announced the launch of its new minor in disability studies Nov. 10. as a part of the institute of interdisciplinary studies, according to a university press release.
The program aims to provide students with a broader understanding of the experiences people who are affected with a disability have. Classes will focus on cultural, social, historical, and physical aspects of disability, according to the release.
“Disability studies are not just for people with disabilities—it is for everyone. It encourages us not only to identify barriers to inclusion in our world, but also, opportunities for building solutions,” said Roy Hanes, professor in the School of Social Work, in the release.
The first disability studies class launched this September with registration filling up in the first 24 hours. Hanes teaches the class, which has includes a combination of in-class discussion and guest speakers to share their first-hand experiences with students.
“When we talk about disability studies, it’s not what’s wrong with people with disabilities. It’s a critical perspective,” Hanes said after class Nov. 12. “Today’s class was a whole workshop for three hours looking at accessibility issues.”
Students were tasked with going around the university to see how campus buildings could be improved and made more accessible, according to first-year communications student, Kamila Klemensowiez.
She said she took the class because she was interested in the topic and wanted to learn more.
Because this semester’s class of 60 people filled up so quickly, the school has since decided to open up another class in the winter semester, Hanes said.
For now there are no plans to turn the minor into a major, he said.
“I would like to see it,” he said. “But I don’t know if it’s in the works yet. That takes more planning and more work so we’ll see how the minor goes first and see how many students register for the minor because it has to have a critical mass to succeed.”
But it’s not because there isn’t enough to study concerning disability studies, Hanes said. With a quarterly journal, conferences that attract around 150 people, and five programs at universities around Canada—three graduate and three undergraduate including Carleton’s—the world of disability academia is growing.
“Disability issues are about inclusion versus exclusion,” Hanes said. “People with disabilities number one billion around the world.”
Other courses required for the minor include Disability Studies: Policy and Activism, Disability Rights, Social Work: Persons with Disabilities, and Theories of Sexuality.
Students can also select from a diverse group of courses in American Sign Language, linguistics, child studies, and psychology, among others, in order to complete the minor.
“People with disabilities are part of our communities, our history, our culture, and our society. They always have been and always will be,” Hanes said. “Disability is not a sickness, and more likely than not, everyone has experienced it personally in one form or another.”
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