Fall 2026
Disability and Human Rights: Activism and Practice in the Modern World
Dates: September 01, 2026 – December 15, 2026Day/Time: Tuesday 10:00 AM - 12:40 PM EDT
Level: 300-Level
Certificate: Human Rights
Human Rights certificate requirement: Introductory course in human rights law, politics, advocacy, or practice. Human rights as a transnational or global practice or phenomenon.
Instructor: Vera Shengeliya, Bard College
This course explores disability as a site of political struggle, social construction, and collective resistance. We will examine how disability is shaped by cultural narratives, state systems, and global inequalities especially under authoritarian regimes and how disabled people and their allies have organized for dignity, rights, and justice. Through comparative case studies (Russia, the US, the UK, Sweden), we will engage with questions of institutional violence, reproductive and sexual autonomy, intersectionality, and community care. Grounded in the instructor s experience as a disability rights activist, this course offers space for reflection, critical analysis, and envisioning transformative futures.
Credits: 4 US / 8 ECTS