Disability class reaches out to community
College Seminar combines interdisciplinary studies with service at South Bend's Logan Center
Becky Hogan
Issue date: 1/22/08 Section: News
Sixteen Notre Dame students will join the growing field of disability studies this semester in a seminar on disability that will supplement interdisciplinary academic study with community service.
"Disabilities studies is very new … and there are very few courses dedicated to it in the U.S.," course instructor Essaka Joshua said. "When I got here I was really excited with the reaction I was getting from people within Notre Dame."
In addition to attending traditional classes, students in the Arts and Letters College Seminar on disability will spend time each week with disabled persons at the Logan Center in South Bend. This weekly service will allow students to expand upon traditional studies through interaction with the disabled, Joshua said.
Students have backgrounds in a wide variety of studies, including medicine, anthropology, English, history, American Studies and psychology.
"[The course] attempts to look beyond seeing disability in a medical context," Joshua said.
The seminar, which is filled to capacity, looks at various disabled communities, attitudes towards difference, the history of disability and cultural representations of disability through literature. The course will also examine government policy, the politics of charity and issues surrounding medical insurance.
Students will draw on their weekly volunteer experiences for class presentations, discussions and projects.
"The students will be helping with all sorts of recreational activities for people of all ages, learning about the lives of the clients, and about the ways in which institutions of this type can make a difference," Joshua said.
Students will work with a Logan Center representative to select their service placement. Some students may work in the Center's newly opened Regional Center of Autism, where they will assist clients with developing their social skills. The volunteer aspect of the course is self-directed, so the students will have the option of moving around the Logan Center and interacting with people with various disabilities.
"Disabilities studies is very new … and there are very few courses dedicated to it in the U.S.," course instructor Essaka Joshua said. "When I got here I was really excited with the reaction I was getting from people within Notre Dame."
In addition to attending traditional classes, students in the Arts and Letters College Seminar on disability will spend time each week with disabled persons at the Logan Center in South Bend. This weekly service will allow students to expand upon traditional studies through interaction with the disabled, Joshua said.
Students have backgrounds in a wide variety of studies, including medicine, anthropology, English, history, American Studies and psychology.
"[The course] attempts to look beyond seeing disability in a medical context," Joshua said.
The seminar, which is filled to capacity, looks at various disabled communities, attitudes towards difference, the history of disability and cultural representations of disability through literature. The course will also examine government policy, the politics of charity and issues surrounding medical insurance.
Students will draw on their weekly volunteer experiences for class presentations, discussions and projects.
"The students will be helping with all sorts of recreational activities for people of all ages, learning about the lives of the clients, and about the ways in which institutions of this type can make a difference," Joshua said.
Students will work with a Logan Center representative to select their service placement. Some students may work in the Center's newly opened Regional Center of Autism, where they will assist clients with developing their social skills. The volunteer aspect of the course is self-directed, so the students will have the option of moving around the Logan Center and interacting with people with various disabilities.