1_Course Starter

Week 1:

January 13 – January 19

Welcome!

We are going to dive in to a discussion to (re)position disability as a sociological, historical, political, and cultural phenomenon rather than only a medical or sentimental one. This course is intended to engage you in understanding disability as a part of the diverse world we live in. Please carefully review the Syllabus and keep a copy of the Weekly Schedule handy as important due dates are listed there.

Objectives

In this course, you will: 

  • Identify your own cultural values, beliefs, and assumptions and gain an understanding of how they impact your interactions with individuals with disabilities.
  • Compare and contrast historical models of disability and critique those definitions or models.
  • Critically reflect on personal narratives describing values, traditions, and conceptualizations of individuals from diverse backgrounds and how these factors affect the social, medical, educational, and political inclusion (or lack thereof) of persons with disabilities.
  • Apply effective cross cultural communication skills and understand the importance of acknowledging communication “differences” so that communication is accurate and productive.

What to Expect

This course has the following format:

  • Asynchronous learning environment
  • Week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday
  • All content in course website aside from the book for Assignment #1: Book Report
  • Weekly essay/response and multiple-choice quiz
  • Two major assignments: Book Report and Personal Interview

Contact Information

Email me at lauren.lumho@hawaii.edu with any questions or concerns and include “DIS 380” in the subject line.


Quiz & Comment

The multiple choice quiz and response quiz is due January 19 before midnight. See the Syllabus for the quiz and response requirements. You can only submit each quiz once.

This week is one of only two weeks where you will write your response as a comment (as well as in the quiz) for the full class to see. The comment section is at the very bottom of the lesson.

The comment should include the following components:

  • Introduce yourself.
  • What is your major and/or educational aspirations?
  • Why are you interested in this class and/or Disability Studies?
  • In the list of topics covered in the class (see Weekly Schedule), which topic(s) are you most interested in, and why?

Feel free to rely back to your classmates!


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