WELCOME TO WGS 244: CRITICAL DISABILITY STUDIES!

“studying disability is ‘a prism through which one can gain a broader understanding of society and human experience.’ It deepens the understanding of gender and sexuality, individualism and equality, minority group definitions, autonomy, wholeness, independence, dependence, health, physical appearance, aesthetics, the integrity of the body, community, and ideas of progress and perfection in every aspect of culture.”

Rosemarie Garland Thomson

WGS 244: Critical Disability Studies is a for-credit introductory course offered by the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. To register for the class, you’ll need to be a student at the University of Alberta and register in the class through the University of Alberta online registration system, Bear Tracks. If you are not a University of Alberta student, and you’d like to follow along with the courses, you are welcome to treat WGS244.org as your informal classroom, but please note that only those students officially registered in the class will be able to submit assignments for assessment to members of the teaching team.

Though most of the content of the courses lives here, on the WGS244.org webpage, activities and assignments associated with the class and completed for credit will be managed through the University of Alberta’s eClass online learning system.

Welcome Video

Please watch the video above for an overview of the course.

For support and advice, click the online learning tab on the upper right corner of this page. Here, you’ll find general advice for how to thrive in the online environment.

This course was developed by the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Alberta, with financial support provided by the University of Alberta Provost’s Office. To find out more about WGS at the University of Alberta, visit our webpage.

Chloë Taylor, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, is responsible for choosing the content for this course, writing and narrating the video lectures, and recording conversations with guest lecturers.

Maya Morton Ninomiya illustrated the following video lectures: “What is Disability?” (Module 1), “Eli Clare’s The Mountain” (Module 1), “Individual versus Social Models of Disability” (Module 2), “Disability Rights” (Module 3), “Critiques of the Social Model Part 1” (Module 4), “Critiques of the Social Model Part 2” (Module 4), “Disability and Gender” (Module 5), “Disability and Sexuality” (Module 6), “Disability and Race” (Module 7), “Mad Studies Part 1” (Module 11), “Mad Studies Part 2” (Module 11), and “Disability Culture and Desiring Disability” (Module 12).

Elias Dekoter edited the following video lectures: “What is Disability?” (Module 1), “Eli Clare’s The Mountain” (Module 1), “Individual versus Social Models of Disability” (Module 2), “Disability Rights” (Module 3), “Critiques of the Social Model Part 1” (Module 4), “Critiques of the Social Model Part 2” (Module 4), “Disability and Gender” (Module 5), “Disability and Sexuality” (Module 6), “Disability and Race” (Module 7), “Mad Studies Part 1” (Module 11), “Mad Studies Part 2” (Module 11), and “Disability Culture and Desiring Disability” (Module 12).

Andrea Alvarez animated and edited the following video lectures: “Welcome to Critical Disability Studies” (landing page, above), “Neurodiversity Studies” (Module 8), and “Care” (Module 10).

Anthony Goertz animated and edited the video lecture: “Disability and Animals” (Module 9).

Logan Peters animated and edited the videos of the guest lecture conversations: “Danielle Peers on Supercrips and Inspiration Porn” (Module 1), “Danielle Peers on Eugenics in Canada and Covid-19” (Module 2), “Ada Jaarsma on Universal Design and Pedagogy” (Module 3), “Stephanie Jenkins on Chronic Pain” (Module 4), “Danielle Peers on Intersectionality” (Module 7), “Stephanie Jenkins on Disability and Animals” (Module 9), “Danielle Peers and Lindsay Eales on the Politics of Care” (Module 10), “Lindsay Eales on Mad Studies, Saneism in Academia, and Intersectionality” (Module 11), and “Danielle Peers and Lindsay Eales on Disability Culture” (Module 12).

Special thanks to Professors Danielle Peers, Ada Jaarsma, Stephanie Jenkins and Lindsay Eales for participating in these recorded guest lecture conversations for the course.

Thanks to Paige McClelland, Dr. Daisy Raphael, and Yumeng Hu who each assisted in the construction of this website.

Finally, thanks to Dr. Michelle Meagher for her encouragement and advice in developing this course.