3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

Disability Futures investigates the role of science and medicine in defining “normal” bodies and minds, and the processes of social change through which we can imagine and build an accessible future. Too often, technologists envision a future where disability has been “cured.” In reality, disability has always been an important part of human life; a world where disabled people thrive is a better world for everyone. This course surveys the field of disability studies with a focus on how disability has shaped, and been shaped by, science, medicine, and technology. We combine approaches from science and technology studies (STS), public health, and the medical humanities, covering topics such as art and speculative fiction, eugenics, technoableism, intersectionality, disability politics, structural determinants of health, and disability justice. Throughout the course, we center creative reimaginings by disabled people in science and the arts.