The Disability Studies Certificate is a 15-credit program that familiarizes students with disability as a cultural construct and better prepares them to work directly with disabled people. The three certificate courses present students an opportunity to think more deeply about ways that disability is understood and valued, and encourages students to consider how they will implement and apply DS principles and practices in their own work. The DSST certificate is ideal for students pursuing a variety of careers such as Social Work, Occupational and Physical Therapy, Education, Speech Language Pathology and more.

Students who successfully earn a Disability Studies Graduate Certificate from EWU should be able to do the following:

• analyze societal representations of defining disability including the moral, medical and social models;
• apply the principles of universal access to disability and to other diverse societal characteristics;
• demonstrate knowledge of the perceptions and beliefs about disability throughout history and in contemporary society;
• display knowledge of how laws and policies influence the lives of people with disabilities;
• identify disability culture and recognize the contributions of Disabled persons in society;
• understand disability as a characteristic in the diverse tapestry of society.

Additional Student Learning Outcomes, Applied Disability Studies Certificate:

• analyze how laws and policies influence the lives of people with disabilities and other traditionally devalued populations based on characteristics including race/ ethnicity, sex and gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, religion and nationality;
• apply a framework for evaluating the impact of laws and policies relative to those that, a) limit or deny groups; b) address or redress problems categorically; c) provide benefits or opportunities to specific groups, and/ or d) are universally and non-categorically based.

Additional Student Learning Outcomes, Critical Disability Studies Certificate:

• understand the place and value of disabled people within the foundational philosophies of Western society;
• articulate the nature, and problematic character, of representations of disability in literature, film, art, and performance;
• critique contemporary depictions and deployments of disability;
• recognize and appreciate how people with disabilities and Disability culture have, and continue to, develop their own counter-narratives.

Additional Student Learning Outcomes, Critical and Applied Disability Studies Certificate:

• analyze how laws and policies influence the lives of people with disabilities and other traditionally devalued populations based on characteristics including race/ ethnicity, sex and gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, religion and nationality;
• apply a framework for evaluating the impact of laws and policies relative to those that, a) limit or deny groups; b) address or redress problems categorically; c) provide benefits or opportunities to specific groups, and/ or d) are universally and non-categorically based.
• understand the place and value of disabled people within the foundational philosophies of Western society;
• articulate the nature, and problematic character, of representations of disability in literature, film, art, and performance;
• critique contemporary depictions and deployments of disability;
• recognize and appreciate how people with disabilities and Disability culture have, and continue to, develop their own counter-narratives.