Rough Guide to the Schedule of Things for Fall 2016
August 23: Dis-orientation (Reading IN CLASS p. 38-41 Harriett McBryde Johnson’s Accidents of Nature and Emily Ladau’s “The Complexities of Curing Disability” and watching Stella Young’s TEDx Talk and maybe something by Bill Peace)
August 25: Introduction: Judith Butler’s walk with Sanaura Taylor and Silvia Yee’s “People With Disabilities Should Not Be Defined by Technologies They Do or Don’t Use” and Last Chapter from Harriet McBryde Johnson’s Too Late to Die Young
August 30: Designers: Martina Svyantek presents on Designers and Disability + Bess Williamson’s “Electric Moms and Quad Drivers” + Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s “Becoming Disabled”
September 1: Infrastructure: Access Fail Memes to Universally Designed Spaces lecture by Martina Svyantek + Corbett O’Toole’s Fading Scars Chapter 9 “From Berkeley to Beijing” and Bill Peace’s Letter #3 and Stephen Kuusisto’s Letter #4
September 6: Pam Vickers, ADA Coordinator, comes to speak with us about the ADA.+ Bill Peace’s Letter #4
Sept 8: Class Expedition with VT ADA Specialist Mike Kutnak + Title II Primer
Sept 13 (ADVENTURE PLANS DUE): Class Expedition Part II with Mike Kutnak.
Sept 15: Environment and Infrastructure: Zoltan Istan’s “In the Transhumanist Age, We Should Be Repairing Sidewalks, not Disabilities” and Replies to the Istan article: “When Celebrating Accessible Technology Reinforces Ableism” and “The Hidden Burden of Exoskeletons for the Disabled”.
Sept 20: Film: Sound & Fury will be watched in class.
Sept 22: Hearing and Deafness: Harlan Lane’s “Construction of Deafness” + Brenda Brueggemann’s “On (Almost) Passing” (From the Disability Studies Reader) + R.A.R. Edwards: ‘Hearing Aids are Not Deaf’: A Historical Perspective on Technology in the Deaf World (From the Disability Studies Reader) + “Stop Sharing Those Feel-Good Cochlear Implant Stories”
Sept 27: Technology & Concealment, Categories & People: Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s Staring Chapter 9 “Hands” + Daniel J. Wilson’s “Passing in the Shadow of FDR” (From Disability and Passing) + Ellen Samuels’ “My Body, My Closet”
Sept 29: Assistive Tech & Universal Design for Learning: Universal Design in Learning + “Building Pedagogical Curb Cuts” + Amy Sequenzia’s “Universal Design and Disability Acceptance”
Oct 4: Guest Presentation: Donna Smith (SSD, VT) presentation on Disability in Media + paralympic coverage reading
Oct 6: Classroom Expedition to the Assistive Tech Lab, Guided by Christa Miller and Hal Brackett + “People With Disabilities Are Still an Afterthought in Tech Design”
Oct 11: Guest Lecture: Josh Earle on History of Eugenics: Readings: Adam Cohen’s Imbeciles Ch 1 + Margaret Sanger’s Ch 5 + Nathaniel Comfort’s The Science of Human Perfection Epilogue + IEET “Ban Baby-Making Unless Parents are Licensed”
Oct 13 (Paper topics or proposals due, if you are writing a paper): Selection & Disability: Harriett McBryde Johnson’s “Unspeakable Conversations” + Singer coverage
Oct 18: Class visit from Aaron Reistad to talk about canes and social perceptions. Readings from his blog here and here. + Carl Elliott’s “The Perfect Voice” (from Better Than Well) + Lynn Manning’s “The Magic Wand”
Oct 20: Genes: James C. Wilson’s “Disability and the Human Genome” (from DS Reader) + Ruth Hubbard’s “Abortion and Disability: Who Should and Should Not Inhabit the World?” (DS Reader) + Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s “The Case for Conserving Disability”
Oct 25: Genes, continued: “Down Syndrome screening isn’t about public health” + Chris Kaposky’s “Do We Really Need An Even Better Screening Test for Down Syndrome?” + Rachel Adams’s Raising Henry “Choices” + Peter-Paul Verbeek’s “Obstetric Ultrasounds and the Technological Mediation of Morality”
Oct 27: Enhancement and Genetic Engineering: Wolbring and Diep article
Nov 1: Disability and Sport: read Corbett O’Toole’s Fading Scars Chapter 7 “Court Crips” + watch Murderball (streamed online prior to class)
Nov 3 (Ashley OUT): Watching Fixed: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement
Nov 8 (Election Day): Fake Feet: Raman Srinivasan’s “Technology Sits Cross-Legged” (From Artificial Parts, Practical Lives) and Serlin chapter from from Artificial Parts, Practical Lives
Nov 10: Prosthetic Arms: Catherine Campbell’s “Giving up a 3-D Printed Prosthetic for a Different Vision of Perfect” and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s “Hands” from her Staring book.
Nov 15: Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Tarryn Abrahams + reading TBA
Nov 17: In-class Skype with Mallory Kay Nelson on “Transmobility” + John Hockenberry’s Moving Violations Chap 16 “The Point of No Comment”
Week of Break – No Class
Nov 29: Presentation Day
Dec 1: Presentation Day
Dec 6: Presentation Day
Technology and Disability 