Title:College Establishes Minor in Disability Studies

Growing up with friends and relatives with disabilities, Charlotte Hine (B’19) has always felt personally invested in spreading an understanding of how disability affects so many lives in various ways.

“One in five people in the United States has some kind of disability,” she says. “It crosses social, racial, and economic divisions, and it can impact you at any point in your life.”

Disability studies poses questions ranging from the fundamental (How do we define disability?) To the incredibly specific (What are the ethical concerns surrounding medical intervention to prevent certain disabilities?)

“Disability studies is a truly interdisciplinary field that explores the history, culture, politics, and policy related to this cultural identity,” says Libbie Rifkin, a member of the Department of English and acting director of the minor.

Rifkin says that teaching related to disabilities usually takes place in medical schools. The Georgetown minor will focus on disability as a “particular lived experience,” Rifkin says, not a problem to be solved.

The College already has an active core faculty on the subject via the Disability Studies Course Cluster. The new minor binds several disciplines together with six course requirements: one introductory class, three disability-focused core courses, and two electives.

Disability studies goes to the heart of the university’s mission, Rifkin says. “Georgetown students graduate uniquely positioned to lead in law, policy, medicine, entrepreneurship, and foreign service. It’s important for these leaders to have a more nuanced and full understanding of disabilities.”

Hine, an Entrepreneurship Fellow in the McDonough School of Business, says “you can look at disability studies from any point of view, and it overlaps with almost anything you can study at Georgetown—business, design, healthcare, humanities, political perspectives,” Hine says. “I really appreciate that dialogue.”