DISABILITY STUDIES – THE NEXT 100 YEARS
Over the last century, UCLA has become a national leader in disability education and advocacy through Disability Studies. This groundbreaking academic field challenges and changes society’s attitudes toward disability in a world enthralled by ability.
As we look forward to the next 100 years, Disability Studies’ broad vision will be to serve as a catalyst for a more just and diversified human community by re-envisioning models of access, inclusion, representation, communication, and equity across every academic discipline and throughout our society. There is no more compelling place to start than with the universal human experience of disability. Over the next 100 years, we will not just “redefine normal”, we will reshape our world.
To bring this vision to light, the UCLA Disability Inclusion Lab will activate UCLA’s Disability Studies and Community networks to develop action agendas for change.
WHAT IS THE UCLA DISABILITY INCLUSION LAB?
The UCLA Disability Inclusion Lab is a cross-disciplinary initiative devoted to curricular transformation and community engagement designed to reframe our cultural understanding and practices around the concept of disability. Each lab will build and strengthen networks of faculty, staff, undergraduate/graduate students, and community leaders to develop action agendas for change.
Inclusion Lab outcomes may include new courses; student internship and capstone research opportunities; new faculty research and scholarship; white papers to change public discourse; and public programs to engage the community-at-large.
UCLA DISABILITY INCLUSION LAB THEMES
Themes for the labs are selected based on faculty interdisciplinary expertise and collaboration with community partners in areas that demand consideration, advocacy and reshaping. Each lab theme will highlight opportunities for change in at least one of the following four areas:
- Accommodations: technological advances and inclusive design to level the playing field for disabled individuals
- Social justice: advocacy through legal and policy-related venues to create a more just society
- Quality of life: breakthroughs to alleviate suffering and support wellbeing
- Inclusion: public discourse to redefine what it is to be human in an inclusive world
Upcoming Inclusion lab themes are Inclusion in Communications: Autism Media Lab and Inclusion in the Arts: Dancing Disability . Possible future themes include Technology, Law and Humanities.