| Unit name | Anthropology of Disability and Difference |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCHM0083 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Hofer |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Disability is the ultimate form of difference that could affect anyone, at any time, regardless of ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation. And yet, how much have we thought about it? Are we not in fact all affected by disability as well as affecting the lives of disabled people? How much do we know about the empirical and theoretical implications of disability? This unit approaches disability not as a biological tragedy, but as a set of diverse experiences of being human, mediated and shaped socio-culturally, linguistically and politically.
Despite great leaps in interdisciplinary disability studies and anthropology’s claim to expertise in understanding and theorising alterity, there has been relatively little engagement with disability in core anthropology, except in the sub-discipline of medical anthropology. This unit explores existing works in social and medical anthropology and their unique approaches to studying disability within the wider context of Critical Disability Studies, Disability Anthropology and Global South contexts.
The unit enriches the MA programme in Anthropology, the MA in Innovation with Anthropology as well as MA Liberal Arts, as a popular option unit that conveys deeper understanding of social anthropology and one of its sub-fields of medical anthropology not covered on other units. It combines rigorous training in critical academic skills with skills in applying them to the real world of disability justice.
An overview of content
This unit explores existing works in social and medical anthropology and their unique approaches to studying disability within the wider context of critical disability studies, disability anthropology and regional Global South literatures and debates. Among the topics explored are historical and critical discourses on models of disability (e.g. moral, medical and the range of current socio-political and augmentative models); cross-cultural research on disability; disability and multiple identities (i.e. the intersection of disability with ethnicity, age, gender and sexual orientation); ethnography as an underutilized method in the study of disability; anthropological theories applied to disability; critical interrogations of concepts such as stigma, anomaly, liminality, the normative gaze and others describing disabled people's experience and sociocultural responses to disability. Further topics are the relationship o disability and technology, and disability rights as a social movement - its successes and struggles worldwide. The course ends on debates about bio-ethics and disability and looks to the future of disability in relation to new global challenges and the future of disability anthropology.
The unit has 3 core aims:
1) to present a comprehensive overview of key debates in disability studies and work by anthropologists on disability;
2) to critically evaluate anthropological methods and theoretical approaches to disability;
3) to critically evaluate current theory and discourse within disability studies to advance anthropological understandings of disability.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
This course will enable you to be an informed and critical participant in current debates about disability access and disability justice, it will make you an advocate for all kinds of disability related issues understanding their strong links to other social justice issues. Finally it will enable you to confidently and substantively understand and talk about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion so these important issues are not further hollowed out by corporate interests.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit postgraduate students (PG) will be able to:
How you will learn
1 x 2 hour lecture including discussions
1 x 1 hour seminar per week (except in first and last week of term)
1 x 1 hour Asynchronous activity per week (such as watching a film or listening to a podcast)
1 x 1 hour Peer-Study Group (PSG) meeting per week
1 x day long (8 hour) fieldtrip
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
The formative will be a 500-700 word critical accessibility report about one aspect of access to a public institution, such as a museum or a library, including their website and any public events programming.
The timing of the related task during the fieldtrip will be in Week 4 of TB2 and the formative will be due for upload in Reading Week (Week 5). The feedback will be in-class and by means of written feedback. The formative assesses ILOs 2 & 3.
The formative links to the summative through highlighting various themes that are the foundation for the summative assessments, such as being able to see how and why disability scholarship is also often activist and to see the role of society rather than the individual in creating and enabling access.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
1. 800-word Book Review (Summative assessment I, 20% of the overall mark) – Due in the week after Reading week.
In addition to reading and engaging with book-length accounts of
disability—and, in doing so, gaining a deeper understanding of some of the themes of
the course—this is also an exercise in academic writing. The feedback on it will
assist in writing the second written assignment. Writing book reviews is
one of the tasks undertaken by academic anthropologists. It would be useful
to read some good examples (try the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute)
before embarking on this assignment.
Specifically, your review should include:
1) A very brief summary of the book as a whole, outlining the central themes and
issues of the book;
2) A more detailed focus on one or two of the main themes of the book and how their
coverage links in to the wider literature on those themes;
3) An assessment of the main weaknesses and strengths of the book, backed up with
4) Refer to how it fits into the wider literature.
Choose one of the ethnographies from the list in the unit handbook or get approval for one of your own choice. 800 words, excluding references.
Guidance and the marking criteria for this assessment provided in the first week of TB2. This assignment assesses ILOs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
2. 3000-word essay (Summative assessment II, 80% of the overall mark) – Due in the assessment week.
A list with essay titles will be provided in the course of TB2. You are expected to submit one long essay of 3000 words (including references).
Guidance and the marking criteria for this assessment will be provided in the first week of term. This assignment assesses ILOs 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ARCHM0083).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
