A new undergraduate degree in disability studies aims to prepare University of Toledo students for jobs in advocacy, academia, public policy, law, and other careers.
This fall, UT will expand its minor in disability studies into a major, offering students a chance to delve deeper into the cultural and social context of being considered disabled and what that means.
Officials touted the new bachelor of arts degree as the first of its kind in the nation. Other universities offer disability studies as an undergraduate minor, for graduate students, or as an online bachelor’s degree.
Toledo’s 33-credit, humanities-focused major includes an introductory class on disability in the United States as well as course offerings on history, law and human rights, and autism. Some classes will study how literature and films portray characters with disabilities.
Students also will complete an internship.
“The heart of what we teach is critical-thinking skills, helping students to think really effectively and then identify ways to put those good ideas into action,” said Jim Ferris, who holds the Ability Center Endowed Chair in Disability Studies, helped develop the major, and is one of a handful of faculty members within the program.
In 2001, the Ability Center of Greater Toledo pledged $1.9 million to UT to establish the disability studies program.
The nonprofit organization, which serves seven area counties, has championed the program’s growth.
“We were interested in it because we sought to build a more welcoming community for individuals with disabilities and we saw this as a way to do it,” said the center’s executive director, Tim Harrington. “Our goal was to educate students about the history and culture of disability studies so as they became embedded in different roles in their community they would become change agents. The onset of the major takes this discussion [to] a completely different level.”
Others too are cheering UT’s decision to launch a major. Jonathan Bartholomy, who is pursuing a doctorate in disability studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was a communication major at UT. He received minors in disability studies and cinema studies before graduating in 2006 and later taught at UT for a semester.
The academic field extends beyond a medical perspective to encompass a historical and cultural point of view and examine related media issues, he said.
“The University of Toledo is taking a great step in … advancing disability studies even further,” he said. “It just opens the way people look at disability and can understand disability.”
Mr. Ferris expects some students who graduate with the degree will work in public policy or advocacy roles. Others will join service-providing agencies, practice law, or go to graduate school.
It’s been 25 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed, and attitudes have shifted as disability studies has emerged as a field of study, he said. Not that long ago, having a disabled family member was something people didn’t talk about, he said.
“Today, we aren’t there any more,” said Mr. Ferris, who has mobility impairment and uses a cane.
Over the years, he’s noticed more students raise their hands when he asks how many know someone with a disability.
“We’ve made some really significant advances over the last 25 or 40 years,” he said, before quickly adding: “There’s a lot of work to be done, and this is the way the world changes.”
Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.
First Published August 8, 2015, 4:00 a.m.