| CODE | DBS3010 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Representation of Disabled People | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Disability Studies | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit will be split into two broad sections. In the first part, general disability issues and issues of concern to disabled people with different impairments will be dealt with. This includes the history of the disabled people's movement, the social model of disability, the rights of disabled people and the life experiences and perspectives of persons with different disabilities. This first section will also deal with the social construction of disability and representations of disabled people in various forms of media and culture. In these lectures, representations of disabled people will be treated from two angles - representations by non-disabled people and those by disabled people themselves. In this way, the students will also be exposed to disabled people's culture and the affirmative model of disability and to ways in which the media can be used not simply to promote positive and realistic portrayals of disabled people but also how they can be a source of their empowerment. The second part of the study-unit will focus more on practice. It will deal with the use of acceptable and unacceptable language when dealing with disabled people, guidelines for representing disabled people and the principles and applications of Universal Design. In addition, a general introduction to visual theory will be provided, together with a discussion of salient issues related to accessibility, legibility and ease of navigation in visual communication. Practical guidelines in effective design will also be given across a number of different media and applications. Topics mentioned include print and screen considerations, packaging and product design, wayfinding, and broadcast media. Study-unit Aims: The aims of this study-unit are: - to present the history of the disabled people's movement and the move from charity and welfare to rights and the social model; - to familiarise students with the different experiences of that disabled people and the main issues of concern of people with different impairments; - to enable students to appreciate how disability is constructed through representations in different cultural forms and different types of media by both disabled and non-disabled people; - to familiarise students with the principles and applications of Universal Design and their implications in the lives of disabled people and the whole of society; - to provide students with a set of practical guidelines that will aid them apply the theory of Universal Design in the field of visual communication. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - outline the history of the disabled people's movement, the social model of disability, and the move from a focus on charity and welfare to a focus on rights and independence; - identify the issues that are of concern to disabled people with different impairments; - analyse the different ways in which disability is constructed in different cultural forms and types of media and the use that disabled people themselves make of cultural and media forms to present an affirmative identity of themselves as disabled people; - define and explain the principles and applications of universal design in the design of media, products, and the environment; - apply the principles of the universal design in practice, taking into consideration acceptable and unacceptable language and representations. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - demonstrate the difference between different models of disability and between the focus on welfare and charity on the one hand and rights and independence on the other; - evaluate different representations of disabled people in various media and culture forms; - identify and understand the elements and principles of design; - apply the principles of the universal design in practice, taking into consideration acceptable and unacceptable language and representations; - critically reflect on instances of good design practice across a variety of media with particular emphasis on the visual, aural and tactile dimensions Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Barnes, C. and Mercer, G. 2010. Exploring Disability, 2nd ed. London: Polity. - KNPD. 2007. Rights Not Charity: guidelines towards an inclusive society and a positive difference in the lives of Maltese and Gozitan disabled people. (Available from http://www.knpd.org/awareness.html) - Lupton, E. & Cole Philips, J. 2008. Graphic Design: The New Basics. - Preiser, W. & Smith, K.H. 2010. Handbook of Universal Design. (Second Edition). McGraw Hill. Supplementary Readings: - Camilleri, J. M. & Callus, A.M. 2001: ‘Out of the Cellars - Disability, Politics and the Struggle for Change: The Maltese Experience’. In Barton, Len (2001): Disability, Politics and the Struggle for Change. David Fulton Publishers. London. UK. Chapter 7, pp: 79 - 92. - Darke, P. 2004. The Changing Faces of Representations of Disability. In J. Swain, V. Finkelstein, S. French and C. Thomas, eds. Disabling Barriers, Enabling Environments. 2nd edition. London: Sage. pp. 100-105. - Gibson, D. 2009. The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. - Goggin, G. & Newell, C. 2003. Digital Disability: The Social Construction of Disability in New Media. Rowman & Littlefield. - Middendorp, J. 2012. Shaping Text. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers. - Pullin, G. 2011. Design Meets Disability. Cambridge: MIT Press. - Siebers, T. 2001. Disability in Theory: from social constructionism to the new realism of the body. American Literary History, 2001, Vol.13(4), pp.737-754. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Blended Learning | ||||||||
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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. |
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