Disability Studies Program
Core Function: Professional Training
The Disability Studies Program is one of the projects of the UCEDD Community Disability Policy Initiative (CDPI) which works with community organizations and individuals on systems change efforts. The aim of the Disability Studies Program is to develop and integrate disability studies curricula across disciplines and departments university-wide. To achieve this, Sharan Brown, CDPI Director, serves on the university-wide Disability Studies Committee that includes faculty from across campus. Committee members work collaboratively to increase the awareness of students and faculty of disability-related issues through expanding disability studies course offerings.
The Disability Studies Program has made significant strides in recent years, having established a Disability Studies minor, a major through General Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, and three new permanent courses. The courses are Disability & Society: An Introduction to Disabilities Studies; Disability Law, Policy, & the Community; and Civil & Human Rights Law for People with Disabilities: National and International Perspectives.
The Disability Studies Program was also awarded a President's Diversity Appraisal Implementation Fund to develop and provide the Disability Studies Curriculum Transformation Seminar to UW faculty. This seminar assisted faculty in developing new courses focusing on disabilities or revising existing one to include disabilities studies.
Other accomplishments and activities of the Disability Studies Program are a revised website, annual conferences on topics of importance to disability rights, and ongoing development of a five-year funding proposal for submittal to the College of Arts & Sciences and the University Provost's Office. Program faculty are also involved in on-going dicussions with medical ethics and bio-ethics departments at the University on the impact of science/medicine on individuals with disabilities.
More Information
Disability
Studies website |
