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2020/21 Taught Postgraduate Programme Catalogue

MA Disability Studies (not recruiting in 2020-21)

Programme code:MA-DISAUCAS code:
Duration:12 Months Method of Attendance: Full Time
Programme manager:Dr Angharad Beckett Contact address:a.e.beckett@leeds.ac.uk

Total credits: 180

Entry requirements:

2:1 BA Hons in the Social Sciences or related discipline
English language requirements as directed by School Policy

School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme:

School of Sociology and Social Policy

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

Sociology and Social Policy Exam Board

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

At present there are no QAA Benchmarks relevant to this programme. The external examiner for our existing programme has, however, acknowledged the high standard of teaching, student support and expertise of the teaching staff in this area.

Programme specification:

The MA Disability Studies is designed to appeal to disabled people and their allies, policy-makers, service providers and other professionals in the field of disability who want to change perceptions about and ensure equality for disabled people. The programme explores the dynamics of disability, past, present and future, across a range of international contexts. This course appeals to people wanting to acquire a wide range of intellectual and research skills enabling them to bring sophisticated disability analysis to work in a wide range of professional fields including academia, activism, government agencies, quasi-governmental, national and international non-governmental organisations and business environments.

The MA Disability Studies focuses upon understanding the complexity of disability relations. The study of disability has never been more important. Globally, there are around 1 billion disabled people and with the ageing population in many countries, this figure is set to rise. Disabled people are more likely to experience poverty, receive less education and employment opportunities and have worse health outcomes than non-disabled people. Their right to dignified lives is often threatened by discrimination, prejudice and violence. Yet disabled people are not passive in the face of barriers to their inclusion and participation within society. They have campaigned to ensure that disability is recognised as a form social exclusion, not just a product of physical difference. Disability is now widely understood to be an important equality and human rights concern.

The MA Disability Studies supports students to recognise, understand and meet many of the challenges facing disabled people, equipping them with knowledge and skills to help build a more enabling society. Students will explore different understandings of disability, disability politics and policy in the UK and elsewhere (e.g. N.America, Scandinavia, China and India), and be supported to undertake international comparative research into these issues. They will learn about research methodologies and methods that involving and seek to empower disabled people.
The programme will be taught by academics from the Centre for Disability Studies (CDS). The Centre's work to change perceptions of disability is considered to be one of the 10 ways in which the University of Leeds has changed the world. It is a vibrant research and teaching environment. Disability Studies is an exciting and lively area of scholarship, bringing together academics from the social sciences, humanities, engineering and design, and health sciences, amongst other fields of study. Students taking this MA in Disability Studies will gain a good understanding of the nature of this interdisciplinary field and how Disability Studies perspectives are challenging and re-orientating 'knowledge' in these very diverse fields.

Students will be supported to develop their own specialist interests through the selection of optional modules from within SSP, reflecting additional areas of expertise within the School (in Gender Studies, Social Research and Social Policy) and across the university (in Law and Education Studies). Students will be supported to develop their intellectual interests and capacities via completion of a dissertation on a topic of their choice, supervised by an expert in a relevant area.

By the end of the course, students will have:
- an advanced understanding of Disability Studies, its connections to disability activism, range of theoretical perspectives and field-specific methodologies;
- an advanced understanding of how Disability Studies perspectives are re-orientating 'knowledge' in fields as diverse as medicine and healthcare, gender studies, education, law, architecture and design, transport studies, media studies and geography;
- a critical understanding and working knowledge of a range of methodological perspectives and research methods within social science ectives and research methods within social sciences;
- the ability both to design and conduct their own research and to evaluate the research they encounter during the course of the programme and beyond;
- the ability to analyse and investigate social and cultural phenomena from a Disability Studies perspective in a way that appreciates that are a range of disciplinary and intersectional perspectives within this field;
- an understanding of the ways in which key issues within Disability Studies manifest across different global contexts;
- the ability to work proactively and self-reflectively, and to develop professional relationships with others;
- an understanding of Disability Studies' key challenges, issues and questions in ways that resist the separation of the theoretical from the applied or the dominance of the theoretical over the applied;
- the ability to conduct a piece of individual research using appropriate conceptual frameworks and methods, on an aspect of Disability Studies.


Year1 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

SLSP5216MSocial Policy, Politics and Disabled People30 creditsNot running in 202021
SLSP5400MDissertation60 credits1 Oct to 30 Sep (12mth), 1 Jan to 31 Oct
SLSP5414MDebates on Disability Theory and Research30 creditsNot running in 202021
SLSP5501MResearch Strategy and Design30 credits1 Jan to 31 May, Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Optional modules:

Candidates will be required to study 30 credits from the following optional modules:

EDUC5611MSpecial Educational Needs: Inclusive Curriculum30 credits1 May to 30 Sep
LAW5862MHuman Rights and Disabled People 115 credits1 Jan to 31 May
LAW5863MHuman Rights and Disabled People 215 creditsNot running in 202021
SLSP5240MRacism, Decoloniality and Migration30 credits1 Apr to 31 Aug
SLSP5302MContested Bodies15 credits1 Apr to 31 Aug
SLSP5304MQue(e)rying Sexualities15 creditsNot running in 202021
SLSP5305MSocial Policy Analysis15 credits1 Apr to 31 Aug
SLSP5306MSocial Policy Debates15 credits1 Apr to 31 Aug
SLSP5307MQuantitative Research Methods15 credits1 Jan to 31 May
SLSP5308MQualitative Research Methods15 credits1 Apr to 31 Aug
SLSP5309MPolicy and Programme Evaluation15 credits1 Apr to 31 Aug
SLSP5311MDisability and Development15 creditsNot running in 202021
SLSP5360MResearching Inequality in the Media30 credits1 Sep to 31 Jan (adv yr), 1 Apr to 31 Aug
SLSP5370MReality TV: Truth or Fiction?30 credits1 Apr to 31 Aug

Last updated: 24/05/2021 09:51:18

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