Explore possible interdisciplinary collaborations for the study of the social construction of human difference and disability. By social construction, we mean the complex interrelation between human physiology and culture, or, as Rosemarie Garland-Thomson puts it, the process of "attaching meaning to bodies." This topic should be of interest to scholars from the disciplines of history; political science; visual, theater, and literary arts; anthropology; sociology; education; philosophy; psychology; sexuality; biology; and neuroscience. We will identify current courses in this area and discuss the development of possible new courses as well as other strategies for increasing the awareness of and understanding of how constructions of disability and human difference can stigmatize people and limit human potential.

Facilitators: Jean Ketter and Ralph Savarese

Date: Friday, February 1, 2008

Attending:
Karla Erickson
Chris Hunter
Judy Hunter
Paul Hutchison
Susan Ireland
Kara Lycke
Joan Mohan
Liz Queathem
Joyce Stern
Susan Strauber
Maria Tapias
Helyn Wohlwend