Disability Studies and Action Collaborative

Disability Culture, Scholarship, and Community

Posts tagged with: Curriculum

First DISA course available for Spring 2023!

Posted Feb 2023

The Institute for Critical Disability Studies is excited to announce a brand new offering in Critical Disability Studies for Spring 2023… and celebrate our first official DISA prefix course! Special thanks to the DS Minor Task Force, ICDS Curriculum Committee, staff, and students who provided feedback during the development process.

About DISA 397A: Critical Disability Studies

DISA 397A: Critical Disability Studies is a 5-credit course being offered by the Institute for Critical Disability Studies this Spring at the WWU Bellingham campus. This course presents an interdisciplinary exploration of the field of Critical Disability Studies, and is appropriate for students of all majors and concentrations. Stay tuned for future offerings of this course with the permanent course number DISA 330 in AY 2023-4, with plans to offer multiple sections in face-to-face and remote/hybrid modalities.

We hope that you will share this course information with students widely. A summary of the class details and a promotional graphic to share is included below.

Course Summary

  • DISA 397A – Critical Disability Studies (5 Credits) – Spring 2023
    • CRN: 24011 (cap: 32)
    • Meeting: TR 10-11:50am, face-to-face, B’ham campus
    • Instructor: Kristen Chmielewski
    • Prerequisites: ENG 101

Catalog Description

This course provides an exploration of the field of critical disability studies. Students will learn about several central topics, including disability rights and disability justice movements, cultural criticism of literature and popular media, and the principles of universal design in physical and digital spaces. Students will explore disability as an identity category that intersects with other identity categories such as race, gender, and sexuality. This is an interdisciplinary course designed for students from any major.

Click to download the DISA 397A promo graphic shown below (opens in a new tab).

Promotional graphic advertising the Institute for Critical Disability Studies' new Spring 2023 course, DISA 397A, Critical Disability Studies: an interdisciplinary exploration of the field of Critical Disability Studies for students of all majors and concentrations! Key topics include disability rights and disability justice movements, universal design, disability as intersectional identity, and cultural criticism of literature and media. Professor Chmielewski, Tuesday and Thursdays from 10 am to 11:50 am, 5 credits. Course CRN number 24011.

Suggested alt text: Promotional graphic advertising the Institute for Critical Disability Studies’ new Spring 2023 course, DISA 397A, Critical Disability Studies: an interdisciplinary exploration of the field of Critical Disability Studies for students of all majors and concentrations! Key topics include disability rights and disability justice movements, universal design, disability as intersectional identity, and cultural criticism of literature and media. Professor Chmielewski, Tuesday and Thursdays from 10 am to 11:50 am, 5 credits. Course CRN number 24011.

-Posted by GIM, ICDS co-director

Additional disability studies course offerings coming soon!

Winter Quarter 2022

Looking forward to a forthcoming disability studies minor, many faculty at Western across many disciplines have been working on adapting their courses to cross-list with the newly-approved DISA course prefix, as well as developing new coursework entirely.

Check out our current growing list of courses completed or in development here (link).  And of course, the Curriculum Committee would love to hear from any faculty interested in adding their coursework or developing coursework to contribute to this interdisciplinary program!