The Interdisciplinary Minor in Disability Studies
Plan for Assessment
The Disability Studies Faculty Steering Committee members include Paul Fritz, Ashley Pryor, Jeanne Funk, David Guip, Skai Stelzer, Jim Nemeth, Barbara Floyd, Pat Groves, Thomas Barden, Mark Langer, Patricia A. Murphy, Neil Reid, Mojisola Tiamiyu, and Fred Post. They will provide a qualitative assessment of the Disability Studies minor.
Some framing questions for the minor include:
- Does the minor coursework challenge the stereotypes of the more than 54 million Americans who experience disability in their lives?
- Does the minor coursework recognize the contributions that people with disabilities have made in history?
- Does the minor coursework contribute to the knowledge about how identities are socially constructed by disability, race, gender, and class?
- Does the minor coursework acknowledge the location of disability in literature, art, and popular entertainment?
Answers to these questions will be found by:
- Gathering of data from faculty developing Disability Studies in other colleges and universities;
- Members of the Faculty Steering Committee visiting Disability Studies courses and providing written commentary on their observations;
- Members of the Faculty Steering Committee interviewing students and members of the greater Toledo disability community; and
- Compiling the results of their research to discover the major themes in the discourse on disability created by the minor program.
