ULEC
2242

The Design of Disability

University Curriculum: University Curriculum

Liberal Arts
Undergraduate Course
Degree Students
The Design of Disability
Fall 2024
Taught By: David Gissen
Section: L

CRN: 17426

Credits: 0

This course examines the topic of design and human impairment through a range of historical case-studies and contemporary theoretical debates. We will understand how the modern concept of “disability” is deeply entangled with the history and practice of modern design. In many ways, disability has been and remains an identity defined through design practice and disciplines. For example, we will examine the manner in which many design disciplines became professionalized as they addressed forms of disease and public health in the early 20th century. We will also explore the ways that modern and late-modern theories of functionalism gained prominence as they advanced an exceedingly narrow concept of human-ness embedded into everyday spaces and artifacts. We will see how blind, deaf, and de-mobilized people responded to this by demanding increased “access” to a world in which virtually everything is designed. These latter demands have defined, if not over-defined, activism by impaired people in the United States. Finally, we will examine the potential transformation of design disciplines via the increased presence of disabled designers. Here, we will imagine a final provocation and that responds to this course’s thesis: How can disabled people liberate themselves from being the objects of design theory and take on other identities outside their struggles with a designed world? **Students must register for both the lecture and discussion section of this course.** [This ULEC is in category 3, Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Arts and Humanities.]

College: University Curriculum (UL)

Department: University Curriculum (UNIV)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Lecture (L)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 75

Add/Drop Deadline: September 9, 2024 (Monday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: November 17, 2024 (Sunday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Closed*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 12:20am EDT 10/13/2024

Meeting Info:
Days: Wednesday
Times: 4:00pm - 5:15pm
Building: Academic Entrance 63 Fifth Ave
Room: L104
Date Range: 8/26/2024 - 12/4/2024