UNIVERSAL DESIGN
We want this course to be accessible to as many different modes of learning and thinking as possible. The class will, by necessity, explore several ways of approaching, looking at, experiencing, and interacting with a variety of texts and spatial media. We intend these to not only expand the accessibility of the conceptual material we’ll cover, but to enrich everyone’s creative and critical capacities for thinking, making, and learning. Disability studies scholars have long shown that “disability” is a relation between people and environments, not personal trait or individual property; in this spirit, we want to shift from a framework of accommodating disability to designing for physical and neuro-diversity as a universal individual and collective condition for learning. We believe, in other words, that where learning with difference is always the starting point, universal design is good for everyone — including (and perhaps especially) instructors!
There are two primary ways we’ll go about this.
We want this course to be accessible to as many different modes of learning and thinking as possible. The class will, by necessity, explore several ways of approaching, looking at, experiencing, and interacting with a variety of texts and spatial media. We intend these to not only expand the accessibility of the conceptual material we’ll cover, but to enrich everyone’s creative and critical capacities for thinking, making, and learning. Disability studies scholars have long shown that “disability” is a relation between people and environments, not personal trait or individual property; in this spirit, we want to shift from a framework of accommodating disability to designing for physical and neuro-diversity as a universal individual and collective condition for learning. We believe, in other words, that where learning with difference is always the starting point, universal design is good for everyone — including (and perhaps especially) instructors!
There are two primary ways we’ll go about this.
Anonymous Open Check-in
First, you’re invited to complete an anonymous and optional feedback form every week to assess what we can do better. No identifying info will be collected, and it will not count as part of your participation grade, but it’s ultimately an opportunity for us to communicate about the class in a more nuanced, open-ended way than a typical end-of-term evaluation.
The form does not ask or require you to share any information about a disability; disclosing disability status is entirely your choice, and protected by federal law. We also always welcome your personal feedback if you feel comfortable talking to us directly! If you feel there are structural barriers to your full participation in the course, whether that entails the physical environment or particular activities or assignments, please let us know as soon as you can. In the event you want to communicate beyond the anonymous surveys, we will always keep these discussions confidential.
UChicago Student Disability Services
Second, the university makes a range of resources available through Student Disability Services (SDS). The process of making use of those resources is summarized here. If you have a documented disability, we encourage you to register with SDS to get support through official accommodation. You can contact them via email at disabilities@uchicago.edu, call them at (773) 702–6000. Their offices are located at 5501 S. Ellis Avenue.
First, you’re invited to complete an anonymous and optional feedback form every week to assess what we can do better. No identifying info will be collected, and it will not count as part of your participation grade, but it’s ultimately an opportunity for us to communicate about the class in a more nuanced, open-ended way than a typical end-of-term evaluation.
The form does not ask or require you to share any information about a disability; disclosing disability status is entirely your choice, and protected by federal law. We also always welcome your personal feedback if you feel comfortable talking to us directly! If you feel there are structural barriers to your full participation in the course, whether that entails the physical environment or particular activities or assignments, please let us know as soon as you can. In the event you want to communicate beyond the anonymous surveys, we will always keep these discussions confidential.
UChicago Student Disability Services
Second, the university makes a range of resources available through Student Disability Services (SDS). The process of making use of those resources is summarized here. If you have a documented disability, we encourage you to register with SDS to get support through official accommodation. You can contact them via email at disabilities@uchicago.edu, call them at (773) 702–6000. Their offices are located at 5501 S. Ellis Avenue.