Module SOC2087 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC2087: Disability and Society
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
The aim of the module is to introduce you to the social study of disability from sociological and anthropological perspectives. Disability & Society will introduce you to social situations of people with disabilities and their relationship to wider society. You will learn to critically contrast sociological and anthropological perspectives with other understandings of disability, and gain insight into how these frame social policy, education, employment, and human rights. The UK is home to a vibrant disability rights community, and you will explore its political and cultural impact. You will investigate through skill-building independent research, writing and presentations how disability is interconnected with issues such as stigma, gender, social exclusion, social movements, globalisation, war and conflict. You will significantly develop your knowledge and understanding of sociology as well as the associated skills and insights regarding cultural diversity and cross-cultural comparison. You will gain insight into social policy and social institutions while honing research and presentation skills.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate your knowledge about the current state of sociological and anthropological debate on disability in class discussion and course work; 2. demonstrate the capability of constructing complex arguments regarding specific issues in disability studies - including state policy; discrimination and social exclusion; human rights; education; reproduction; ethics, politics and care; standardization and 'counting'; lay/professional relations; identity and bodies; sport; violence; cross-cultural and cross-state approaches to disability - based on sociological, anthropological, and related literatures |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. critically evaluate contemporary disability studies related texts in sociology and anthropology; 4. display - in written and oral form - an understanding of the disciplines' relation to, and difference from, other approaches and explanations offered toward disability; 5. appreciate key issues relevant to the contemporary world, and develop critical, comparative and cross-cultural insight; |
Personal and Key Skills | 6. demonstrate transferable skills in formulating, researching and addressing focused questions; 7. prepare focused and comprehensive written and oral presentations; 8. work independently and in collaboration with others; and 9. demonstrate an understanding of how state policy is framed and shapes the lives of a variety of citizens. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- The social model of disability
- Disability across cultures and states
- Disability across the life course
- Culture, identity and disability
- Politics of disability
- Ethics and disability – the politics of deviant bodies
- Disability and Sport
- Social exclusion, stigma and discrimination
- Disability in historical context in Britain
- Disability and Art
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 22 | 11 x 2-hour seminars involving presentations, group interactive discussion, film presentations and media analysis. Please note the two last sessions were the students present their essay projects will be held via skype (4hours) |
Guided independent study | 18 | Preparing seminar-presentation individually and as a group |
Guided independent study | 30 | Reading and research |
Guided independent study | 30 | Web-based activities |
Guided independent study | 50 | Reading, researching and writing essay |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Numerous web based resources for researching general and specific disability issues, e.g., www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies; www.efds.net (English Federation of Disability Sport); www.dpi.org (disabled peoples’ international); www.ddlg.co.uk (disabled data link group).
An updated list of resources will be provided in the lectures.
Other Learning Resources
Ethnographic films and relevant feature films; media including blogs (e.g., http://disabilityrants.blogspot.com/and Ouch! …it’s a disability thing : http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/ )
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Group presentation - primarily oral although power points slides and handouts may be used | 30 minutes | 1-2,4,6-9 | Written and oral |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
80 | 0 | 20 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Research essay | 80 | 3,500 words | 1-9 | Written |
Individual seminar presentation | 20 | 20 minutes | 1-9 | Oral and written |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
Research essay | 3,500 word essay | 1-9 | August/September reassessment period |
Individual Seminar presentation | 20 minutes | 1-9 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Ingstad, Benedict & Whyte, Susan R. 1995. Disability and Culture. University of California Press.
Shakespeare, Tom. 2006. Disability Rights and Wrongs. Routledge.
Paul, Dianne, 1995. Controlling Human Heredity: 1865 to the Present. New Jersey: Humanities Press.
Safford P. & Safford, E. 1995. A History of Childhood and Disability. NY: Teachers College Press.
Sacks, Oliver W. 2000. Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf. Vintage Press.
Titchkosky, Tanya. 2003. Disability, Self, and Society.Toronto, University of Toronto Press.
Tremain, Shelley (ed.). 2005. Foucault and the Government of Disability. University of Michigan Press.
Terry, Jennifer & Urla, Jaqueline (eds.) 1995. Deviant Bodies.Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1995.
Albrecht, Gary et al (eds). 2001. Handbook of Disability Studies FIX
Borsay, A. Disability and Social Policy in Britain since 1759: A history of exclusion
ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/