2021-2022 Catalog

FYS 28 Disability Narratives: Drugs, Care, and Cure

Narratives of dis/ability tell stories of health, illness, impairment, addiction, affliction, and survival. Using theories and histories from disability studies, we will explore how cultures of care and cure in the U.S. advance ability or able-bodiedness as a norm. In this course, we will consider histories of medical discrimination, health activisms and disability justice, and care interventions offered by harm reduction and mutual aid approaches. To think more deeply about drugs, care, and cure, we will examine legislation, media representations, the War on Drugs, the medical-industrial complex, the pharmaceutical industry, and modes of activist resistance pertaining to disability, addiction, and illness in the U.S.

Credits

4 units

Prerequisite

Open only to first year frosh