HIS-735 History of Disability in the United States

Course Overview

This course will address the meaning of disability in America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This is a cultural study of disability, and will confront the social construction of disability, its representation and changing meaning in society. By challenging common social assumptions, and expanding social historical studies of marginalized groups, this course also refocuses the study of such major themes in history as nativism, the role of media, community histories, eugenics, gender roles, the idea of progress, and the perception of normalcy.