Society for Disability Studies

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DSP 600/CFE 621 SOCIOLOGY OF DISABILITY

SUMMER SESSION I, 2008

COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor

Steven J. Taylor, Ph.D.
Professor, Cultural Foundations of Education
Coordinator, Disability Studies
Director, Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University (staylo01@syr.edu)

Purposes

This course has four purposes:

1. To provide an overview of the Sociology of Disability, as it has evolved since the 1960s.
2. To examine writings in the Sociology of Disability that helped shape the interdisciplinary area of Disability Studies.
3. To explore more recent scholarship in the Sociology of Disability.
4. To evaluate concepts and theories from the Sociology of Disability in light of Disability Studies scholarship.

Requirements

There are four requirements for this course:

1. Complete all assigned readings by the due date listed on the syllabus.
2. Post answers to the questions about the readings and responses to other participants’ posts, as indicated on the syllabus.
3. Submit a reaction paper to Goffman’s Stigma no later than 5:00 on May 29, in accord with the guidance provided on the syllabus.
4. Submit a reaction paper to Linton’s Claiming disability or Davis’s Bending over backwards no later than 5:00 on July 8, as indicated on the syllabus.

On-line Course

This is an on-line course using the Blackboard Learning System. Students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with Blackboard and go through the Blackboard tutorial as soon as possible. If you need technical assistance, try these contacts:

Consult (315-443-2677)
consult@syr.edu
online@uc.syr.edu
http://syllabus.syr.edu/blackboard6/students/
http://suce.syr.edu/online/techsupport.htm

If you get stuck, you may e-mail me (staylo01@syr.edu), although I may or may not be able to help you on the technical aspects of Blackboard.

I have not taught an on-line course before and am still learning how best to do this. I have tried to keep the technology for the course as simple as possible.

Except for the books assigned for the course, all readings are available on Blackboard. A separate Course Reading List contains complete references for all of these readings. Please note that all readings are for your personal use in this course only.

To complete course assignments, you will need to learn how to use the digital drop box and the discussion board on Blackboard. Please carefully review the course guidelines for the discussion board.

E-Mail “Office Hours”

I generally check my e-mail regularly Monday through Friday. I sometimes check e-mail on the weekends, but don’t count on reaching me then. For e-mails sent me during the week, please allow 48 hours for me to get back to you.

Academic Integrity

Any work you submit for the course must be your own. Make sure that you acknowledge, with proper citations, any ideas taken from others. Quotes from others must include citations and quotations marks. Any student found to have committed plagiarism will receive zero credit for the assignment and may receive a failing grade for the course. If I suspect a case plagiarism, I may use a web-based resource to see if a student’s work was taken from somewhere else. For further information on academic integrity, see Syracuse University’s Academic Integrity Office’s web site (http://academicintegrity.syr.edu).

Accommodations

If you think you may need any accommodations for this course, please contact Syracuse University’s Office of Disability Services (odssched@syr.edu) as soon as possible.

Grading

Grades for this course will be based on your posts on the course discussion board and the two papers assigned for the course.

As indicated on the syllabus, you will be expected to make a total of 44 posts in response to questions under the readings or posts by other class members. You will receive up to two points for each post that is original and substantive (see course guidelines for the discussion board). An additional one-half (.5) point will be awarded for each especially thoughtful post. The maximum number of points for posts in the course is 110.

You can receive a maximum of 40 points for your paper on Goffman’s Stigma.

You can receive a maximum of 50 points for your paper on Linton’s Claiming Disability or Davis’s Bending Over Backwards.

The maximum number of points you can receive for the course is 200. I will determine the cut-offs for different grades at the end of the course, once I have evaluated all students’ work.

Acknowledgements

Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri, Information Coordinator at the center on Human Policy, provided significant technical support in the design of this on-line course. Ideas about on-line teaching came from Dr. Tiffany A. Koszalka, Syracuse University, and Dr. Kenneth Pimple, University of Indiana. Of course, I am responsible for course content and requirements.