2020-40

Motion Introduced by:  Curriculum and Academic Programs Committee

Date of First Reading:  February 3, 2020

Date of Second Reading: March 2, 2020

Title of Motion: Request from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – School of Social Transformation – for the establishment of a certificate – Disability Studies

Action Requested: This curricular proposal has received all college, school, unit and university administrative approvals, and is being presented to the Senate for review and voting decision.   

Rationale: The undergraduate certificate in disability studies will expose students to a socially embedded, intersectional body of knowledge informed by scholars and activists, historic and present. Education and training include transdisciplinary dialogue, research and practice. Coursework in the humanities and the social and behavioral sciences will prepare students to critically examine models and theories centering on political, cultural, and economic factors that define disability and help

determine personal and collective responses to difference. Our interdisciplinary approach places the study of disability within an international and historical context and will focus on the cultural representations of disability in diverse media such as

film, literature, books, advertising, sport, and the arts.

The certificate in disability studies will enable students to examine policies and practices that promote the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of society.