Extraordinary Lives: Narratives of Disability

The way we think about and represent disability, the way we define it for our culture and ourselves, is a significant measure of the way we think about and define “outsider” identity on a more global scale. The language and narrative techniques used to conceal or to claim disability, to shape it according to certain historical or cultural standards, to find context for it within the realm of the “normal”—all these are concerns shared with other identity studies (e.g., women’s studies, black studies, queer studies, etc.). This class will approach the idea of disability through a series of personal narratives, mostly biographies and autobiographies, examining the myriad ways in which disability is discovered and understood. The class will examine the disability paradigm from a personal perspective, a medical perspective, and a cultural perspective and will consider a range of experiences commonly identified as “disabled.” Texts may include: Helen Keller, The Story of My Life; Frederick Treves, “The Elephant Man”; Lucy Grealy, Autobiography of a Face; Oliver Sacks, An Anthropologist on Mars; Nancy Mairs, Waist-High in the World; Leah Hager Cohen, Train Go Sorry; Michael Berubé, Life As We Know It; Temple Grandin, Emergence: Labeled Autistic.

Prospective Syllabus

september
conf. wk.	Mon	5	Introduction
A	Mon	12	Hellen Keller, The Story of My Life
B	Mon	19	Joseph Carey Merrick (the “Elephant Man”): Life and Afterlife
A	Mon	26	Lucy Grealy, Autobiography of a Face
october
B	Mon	3	Lucy Grealy, Autobiography of a Face Sample response paper
A	Mon	10	Oliver Sacks, An Anthropologist on Mars (selected essays)
B	Mon	17	Nancy Mairs, Waist-High in the World (selected essays) Bulletin Board discussion on the text
No confs.	Mon	24	NO CLASSES—Study Day
A	Mon	31	Short Papers due (3-5pp) Leah Hager Cohen, Train Go Sorry
november
B	Mon	7	Leah Hager Cohen, Train Go Sorry
A	Mon	14	Michael Berubé, Life As We Know It
No confs.	Mon	21	Michael Berubé, Life As We Know It
B	Mon	28	Temple Grandin, Emergence: Labeled Autistic
december
A	Mon	5	Longer Papers due (8-12pp) / Conference Portfolios / Worksheets Due Temple Grandin, Emergence: Labeled Autistic
B	Mon	12	Catch up and review

Classroom approach. More discussion than lecture.

Course reading load. Approximately 100-200pp per week. See preliminary syllabus.

Writing. For the class, students will be asked to write one shorter paper (3-5 pp.) at midterm and one longer paper (8-12pp) for the end of the term. Topics may be suggested for these papers but will not be assigned. In addition, students will be expected to write frequent 1-2pp. response papers. Writing for conference will be determined on an individual basis.

Conference work. Possible research areas are very broad, but must consider disability in some way. Possible projects include:

• Writing a disability memoir/biography/narrative of one’s own.
• Study of disability in fiction. Possible texts: Frankenstein, David Copperfield, Ethan Frome, Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, Barchester Towers, The Law and the Lady, David Copperfield, Olive, Geek Love, Oedipus Rex, etc.
• Study of additional disability life writing: Oliver Sacks, Harriet McBryde Johnson, Temple Grandin, Lennard Davis, Georgina Kleege, Stephen Kuusisto, Jim Knipfel, etc.
• Focused study on one particular type of disability: Deaf Studies, autism spectrum disorders, tourette’s syndrome, blindness, etc.
• Further study of one particular life: E.g., Helen Keller, Harriet Martineau, FDR, Joseph Carey Merrick, etc.
• Study of disability theory, politics, culture, or history (e.g., Gallaudet “Deaf President Now” uprising, 1988; infanticide of disabled infants in Ancient Greece)

Writing for conference—students are encouraged to write shorter sequenced papers or shorter papers on related topics/themes throughout the semester; shorter papers will be revised and submitted as a portfolio at the end of the term.