How is today’s idea of disability justice rooted in US history over the long term (i.e. since 1700)?

Take-home Culminating Assignment

 

Using the readings for the week of December 8 as a starting point (the blog post on disability justice: https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/disability-justice-a-working-draft-by-patty-berne and Alice Wong’s Disability Visibility collectionentire book), answer this question:

 

How is today’s idea of disability justice rooted in US history over the long term (i.e. since 1700)?

 

Some additional questions to get you going:

 

what is disability justice, and how is it different from disability rights?

why did it come about in the 21st century, not sooner?

what impact does this idea have on specific people in the Disability Visibility collection? Do you think disability justice shaped Alice Wong’s framing of the collection as a whole? Do you think the essays might impact disability justice too?

what other books, people, or ideas we’ve learned about this semester helped pave the way for disability justice (slavery, institutions, capitalism, Junius Wilson, Helen Keller, eugenics, FDR, wars, the medical vs the social model–just to name a few)

 

The goal of this assignment is to show off what you’ve learned in History 484 by synthesizing materials from the entire semester. The more sources you can work in, the better, though you need to make each one relevant. No need for outside materials–you have plenty already! And no need for a bibliography page–just clear footnotes or endnotes so I can figure out where your ideas are coming from.

 

The paper must be 6-8 pages (approx 1,500-2,000 words), excluding citations.

 

You can work in groups or individually. If you’re in a group, the paper must be longer (approx 14 pages for 2 people, 21 for 3, 70 for 10!) to reflect the effort of a larger number of people, and each person must provide a paragraph at the end explaining their role.

 

I’m open to different formats (slides, podcasts, zines, videos–but clear this with me first because they will require a different set of rules in terms of pages, citations, etc). The main thing is to feel free to be creative as you draw upon concrete evidence to tell a story or make a case. Again, the point is to show off what you’ve learned.

 

Advice:

+ be as concrete as possible by using specific examples and sources from the class (lectures, readings, films–the more varied your sources, the better your grade is likely to be)

+ Get to the point (don’t open with grand proclamations such as “throughout history” or “disability is something that”); go for the jugular, an opening sentence or two worthy of a tweet

+ look at earlier papers for comments and ideas you might use

+ Even if you’re not working in a group, consider exchanging drafts with a classmate

+ it’s sooooo tempting, but don’t wait until the last minute; this way you’ll have a cushion to tweak before handing it in. A little distance and perspective can enhance your grade.

+ have fun! Be creative!

 

Final exams are due by 5PM on December 23. I’ve been flexible about deadlines all semester, but this one is different because of needing to submit final grades to the registrar right after the holidays. Thanks for understanding.