The Meaning of Disability and The Response Of Society The Meaning of Disability and The Response Of Society
a) Comparative article analysis:
Select a topic related to something on the syllabus (to be okayed by me), find 3 (full length) academic/scholarly articles (see note below) on that topic, and write an 1500+ word paper (about 5 pages; always include a word count at the end of the paper, before the works cited page) that brings together the major findings, observations, and questions raised in those articles. (Do not just use the first handful of articles you find; aim for ones that are rich in theory and debate and that go well with the others you also select). You must also use a minimum of 1 reading from class to help you build your argument about what the resources you find are doing. You could, for instance, consider the following points in your reading and selecting of articles and how you use class readings: what is the question about disability the authors are exploring? What kind of approach do they take to defining and understanding disabilitythat is, what model(s) are they mobilizing, and to what effect? What is the problem and what is the solution they are exploring/suggestingand what are the differences and similarities in their definitions of these? How are they thinking about/what are they contributing to disability studies?
Do not simply summarize your different resources in sequential order. Think about what your research question is: what is it that you are exploring in/through these resources? What argument do you (and your resources) want to make? Then, think about what the key points are you want to explore and develop in those resources; how do your authors lead you to identifying these as their main questions? How do they complicate (or perhaps contradict) each others arguments?
Note that the best way to ensure that you get scholarly article returns in your searches is to click the scholarly (peer reviewed) journals box on the left hand margin in most database searches. This will avoid journalistic pieces etc. Also, do not use review essays although of course you can read them. Depending on your topic, other resources may be possible; talk to me about this. And dont forget to check multiple databases; they all index different journals. Academic Search Elite, Project Muse, Sage are all good for the kinds of approaches to identity and racialization that frame this class.
