English 175

Book List

Finger, A.: Call Me Ahab; Friel, B. : Molly Sweeney; Lewis, V.A. ed.: Beyond Victims and Villains; Nussbaum, S.: Good Kings, Bad Kings; Shakespeare, W.: Richard III; Unwin, S. : All Our Children

Description

We will examine the ways disability is represented in a variety of works of fiction and drama.  Sometimes disability is used as a metaphor or symbol of something else.  In other cases, texts explore disability as a lived experience.  We will analyze the representation of disability as it intersects with other cultural factors such as gender, class, race, economics, politics, etc.  Through your close reading of these texts, you will sharpen your critical thinking skills and develop methods to analyze representations of disability in other texts, films, popular culture, and public policy. Assignments will include two short (5-8 page) critical essays, a group performance project and a take-home final examination.

(This is a core course for the Disability Studies Minor).