Creative Community:  Disability and the Arts  (CAT3 – Spring 2024)

Disability is a manifestation of diversity that has often been ignored, marginalized, and denigrated.  In response, this course provides an introduction to the topic, centering its inquiry on two central themes:  community and creativity.    We use a historical framework to situate the present as we imagine a future that moves beyond tolerance and accommodation to an affirmation of the dignity of all, the sine qua non of inclusive community.  Our inquiry draws on the Arts and Humanities, through which we examine diverse forms of creative and communal expression.  Along the way, we meet advocacy groups, theater companies, and intentional communities, through which people with disabilities challenged inequity, confronting cultural stigma, exclusionary social and legal boundaries, and institutionalization used to withhold fundamental civil and human rights.   Through such agency, social awareness was raised, pathways of inclusion forged, and inclusive community made possible.    This course is co-taught by Professors Matthew Herbst and Lisa Porter (Theatre & Dance).