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SUMMER 2012: Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at Mānoa

REPRESENTATIONS OF DISABILITY IN FILM

An online Graduate Seminar (3 Credits) open to Students at any University

Summer 2012 Extension: June 21st - July 26th, 2012

DIS 687 Representations of Disability in Film

Instructor: Dr. Raphael Raphael

Cinema has long carried on a love affair with disability. This love affair has been a deeply ambivalent one, with people with disabilities portrayed alternately as saints or monsters, asexual or hyper-sexual, as both objects of fear and attraction. It is the intent of this course to interrogate these contradictions.

Students in this online course will view and respond to a series of films that portray disability with the following aims: (1) to interrogate their own assumptions about disability; (2) to deepen their historical understanding of the ways in which the "grammar" of film has shaped depictions of disability; and (3) to consider the ways in which these images may dialog with the ways we think about disability. Films viewed include: Freaks, Coming Home, The Elephant Man, Crash, There's Something About Mary and The Station Agent.

This course is intended for students across disciplines, including social work, psychology, public health, law, nursing, political science, and especially education. It is presented in an online, asynchronous format designed to accommodate the schedules of working professionals.

This 3-credit graduate seminar is available completely online as part of the Center on Disability Studies’ 15-credit Certificate in Disability and Diversity Studies.

http://www.cds.hawaii.edu/certificates/

Registration Information:

Registration now open: students from any university are welcome to attend. Questions about this course may be directed to: rraphael@hawaii.edu