Enforcing Normalcy: Deaf and Disability Studies

4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)

(Same as American Sign Language M115.) Lecture, three hours. Exploration of historical, medical, social, political, philosophical, and cultural influences that have constructed categories of normalcy, disability, and deafness. Building on writing of Michel Foucault and critical work in field of disability studies, inquiry into institutions that have enforced standards of normalcy throughout 19th and 20th centuries to present. Primary attention to rise of medical authority in West, history of eugenics, and contemporary bioethics issues confronting disability and deaf communities. P/NP or letter grading.