Disability studies refer to a unique major that provides academic space to explore important questions and challenges that people with disabilities experience every day. These degree programs explore how disability has been defined throughout history and in different cultures. Physical impairment has been a constant experience for many people throughout history, but the different interpretations of the construction of impairment as a generic social category is a new social invention. Students will focus on the social, cultural and political issues that challenge people with disabilities every day.
Disability Studies Programs
Disability studies explore the social ideologies and cultural systems that have …show more content…
Graduates will be prepared to represent people with disabilities and advocate for better public policies, support and professional standards. Students will be ready to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities related to gender identity, racial discrimination, sexual orientation and religion and spirituality. Disability studies students will learn how disability gives unique meaning to life. These programs draw insight from interdepartmental courses ranging from English to occupational therapy to applied sociology.
The Benefits of a Disability Studies Degree
Disability studies degree programs will show students that that disability is an integral part of the social diversity. These programs usually focus on the concept of universal access, which is the philosophy that society must be inclusive of all people’s abilities, traits and backgrounds. Universal access, or UA, embraces a holistic attitude that respectful and responsible societies accommodate minorities regardless of their typical appearance or atypical characteristics.
Disability studies degree programs explore social attitudes, social policies and reactions that contribute to people with disabilities being denied their civil rights, oppressed by groups and openly discriminated