Disability
Studies Research & Methodologies
Online
course for undergraduate and graduate students
DST
4890/MLS 6020
Taught
Spring Semester (3 credits)
To
enroll: www.utdl@utoledo.edu
v
Course
Objectives:
1. To explore a variety of qualitative research
methodologies based
on the Long-Range Plans of the National Institute on
Disability and
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)
from 2005 through 2014.
2. To conduct a research project based on one of these
methodologies.
3. Graduate and honors’ students may use the course to
conduct research on their thesis projects.
Taught by Patricia A. Murphy, PhD.
419.277-3922
Readings:
Botkin, J. R. (2007).
Line Drawing: Developing
professional standards for prenatal diagnostic services. Prenatal testing and disability rights. Parens, E. & Asch, A. (Eds.), pp. 288-307.
Washington, DC: Georgetown
University Press.
Cassuto, L. (2002).
Oliver Sacks and the medical case narrative, pp. 118-130. Synder, S.L., Brueggemann, $ Garland-Thomson,
R. (Eds.). Disability Studies:
Enabling the Humanities. New
York: Modern Language Association.
Corker, M. & Shakespere. T. (2002). Mapping the terrain:
Disability/postmodernity, pp. 1-17. Embodying disability theory. London: Continuum.
Courser, G. T. (2002).
Signifying bodies:
Life writing and disability studies. Synder, S.L., Brueggemann, $ Garland-Thomson,
R. (Eds.). Disability Studies:
Enabling the Humanities. New
York: Modern Language Association.
Davis,
L. J. (1997). Constructing
normalcy: The Bell curve, the novel, and
the invention of the disabled body in the nineteenth century, pp. 9-28. The
disability studies reader. New York:
Routledge.
Leavy, P.L.
(2007, Aug). Merging
feminist principles and art-based methodologies. Paper
presented at the annual meeting the American Sociological Association. New
York, NY: Retrivieved 2008-09=04 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p175345_index.html.
Lester, S.
(1999. May). An introduction to
phenomenological research. http://www.
Demon.co.uk./resmetht.htm.
Omanksy, B.
(2011). Borderlands of blindness. Boulder, CO:
Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book must be in hand by the 2nd
week
of classes. Get the
book from People Called Women Bookstore by
calling 419/535-6455 or email at PCWtoledo@yahoo.com or online at
Amazon.com.
Raphael, D.
(1996). Defining quality of life: Eleven debates concerning its measurement,
pp. 146-165. Quality of life in health promotion and
rehabilitation. Renick, R.,
Brown, I, & Nagler, M. (Eds.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Discussion and Participation:
You will be placed in a
discussion group of no more than 12 students.
In your group, you will be asked to read and to respond to the essays
presented by at least 3 other students.
Rules for feedback on the work of other students include: 1) acknowledge what’s there in an essay; 2)
note what is missing in the essay if anything; 3) acknowledge what was best
about the essay; and 4) identify what essay you are addressing. Your participation is worth 10 percent of the
grade. Therefore, you will need to log
on at least twice per week or more in order to accomplish this. Lack of participation can have a serious
impact on your final grade since is it 10 percent of your grade.
Writing: You will write 12 essays based on the book
and 12 essays or
various articles and online work of a minimum of 300 words. Readings will be
assigned each week as noted above with one assignment given on Mondays and the
other on Thursdays. This work will be
worth 60 percent of your grade. These assignments
are fairly informal and will not be graded on grammar and spelling, although I
may object if the spelling is really bad.
Final Paper/Project:
The final paper worth 30
percent of your grade. The paper must be
submitted by 5pm on Friday, the last day of classes. Undergraduate students will be expected to
submit a ten page, double-space, 12 point paper with in-text citations
appropriate for their discipline and an additional citation page.
Graduate students are
expected to submit a similar paper with the exception of 15 citations on the
references page and 15 pages of text.
Students who want to do a
project rather than a paper will need to get permission from the
instructor. For example, a project could
be the creation of an
archive for the Disability History Archive at the Canaday
Center in Carlson Library.
Failure
to complete the Final Paper/Project will result in an automatic F no matter how
you did in the course work.
Late Work: Work not posted at the appropriate times will result
in a loss of grade points depending on the length of the delay. No penalty occurs for comments on other
student work but keeping up is essential.
This course is designed as an online seminar and so delay in commentary
means that you lose out on the discussion around each topic. In short, this course is really designed as a
seminar. I do not comment on late work.
I comment only on work submitted on time.
Some Thoughts on Academic Integrity: For
University policy on this topic, go to http://www.utoledo.edu/dl/students/dishonesty.html. One great
thing about writing academic papers is that you are not alone. That is, you have the company of scholars who
have gone before you and this is true in articles, essays, unpublished work by
another person, newspaper reports, website discoveries, films, interviews, and
audio reports. Academic integrity means
“no stealing of the ideas of others.”
Academic integrity means an attitude of gratitude which is expressed by
acknowledging the authors in quotes or with other documentation strategies. For more detail on the
proper way to do this go to http://utoledo.edu/dl/students/ewriting.html.
Course Navigation Tips
Discussion Board General Facilitation: This is where I send you to the numbered topics for
your assignments and make announcements about general trends I see happening in
the course. You should ALWAYS check this
section before anything else.
Topics: Please post to the topic on the Discussion Board. Please note that I will be numbering topics
as we go along. This will make it easier
for us to know what we are commenting upon when we read each other’s
comments. I will give the outlines for each
assignment in the assignment section of the Discussion Board.
Questions: Questions about course navigation and course content
should be posted to the Questions section on the Discussion Board so all
students can benefit.
Email to the Instructor/Online Office Hours: Please
use email to the instructor for private issues only. Use email to the instructor as you would use
the instructor’s office hours. Thank
you.
Time: I will be online almost every day for this
course. I recommend that you spend at
least 30 to 40 minutes per day online and this way you will not get
behind. Please note that longer
assignments will be given on Thursdays so that you will have the weekend to do
the work. Late work will result in loss
of a grade point. Please make time for
your reading and research.
Computer Help: If you are unable to get into your discussion group or
are having problems getting into the course go to http://www.utoledo.edu/dl/helpdesk/hlp_index.html.
Grades: I will post your grade
immediately after reading your assignment.
I am able to post your grade privately but comment on your work for the
entire group to read. Sometimes I get going
and forget to give you your grade. Email
me and let me know if I failed to send you a grade.
Assignments: I will give you assignments on Mondays and
Thursdays.
Each student in the class
will use the assignments to focus their research project or paper. The class may be used to do foundational
research for a master’s thesis or project or senior thesis. The assignments are designed to give students
an overall view of qualitative research methods which can be used in a wide
variety of disciplines. In fact,
students whose focus is not on disability can still gain an understanding of
the interdisciplinary nature of qualitative research methodologies.
The major text for this
course, The Ugly Laws, is used as an
example of the results of interdisciplinary research with a focus on
disability.