Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE DBS1005

 
TITLE Exploring Disabled People’s Expressions through the Arts

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Disability Studies

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit aims to create a platform for the appreciation of the arts within personal and social development as related to disabled people's experiences. It will lay out the foundations for an understanding of different artistic media and modalities. It will highlight the differences in intentions behind different artistic practices such as the arts therapies, arts in disability education, the representation of disability in the entertainment arts and arts for disability politics.

It will engage in a variety of learning methods including experiencing the arts; theoretical framing; as well as engaging in online fora related to relevant disability issues.

Study-Unit Aims:

The study-unit aims to develop students' awareness of the scope of disability arts as a form of individual expression, as well as social critique. It aims to lay out the foundations for the appreciation of the potential of the arts in the personal development of disabled people's identity. It aims to expose students to the potential of individuation that becomes possible through the arts. It aims to demonstrate different forms and intentions of artistic practice related to disability.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Describe different examples of disability arts presented during lectures;
- Identify different forms of artistic practice via independent online learning;
- Understand the potential of the arts in the personal development of disabled people's identity through the use of the different artistic media presented in class;
- Differentiate between intentions of artistic practice related to disability.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Work alone and in collaboration with peers during classwork, different artistic media and modalities;
- Engage in online discussions and face-to-face discussions on matters related to disability arts;
- Describe different forms and intentions of artistic practice given different media/scenarios;
- Critically appraise their own responses to artistic practice during classwork and the final oral examination;
- Reflect on disability arts during ongoing assessment in class and online (VLE work).

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- A. Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed (London: Pluto Press, 2008).
- T. Brandon and A. Elliott eds., The Art of Affirming Identity, in J. Swain and S. French, Disability on Equal Terms (London: Sage Publications, 2008) pp. 90-103.
- C.B. Balme, The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies, (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008).
- S. Pitruzzella, Introduction to Dramatherapy: Person and Threshold (Hove: Brunner-Routledge, 2004).
- Research in Drama and Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Fieldwork, Lecture, Independent Online Learning

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork SEM2 No 50%
Oral Examination (30 Minutes) SEM2 Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S Sara Accettura
Joanna Tabone

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit