Disability studies is a dynamic, interdisciplinary minor that explores disability as a human experience. Students study the history, culture, and human rights movements of disabled people, analyzing disability's intersections with race, class, gender, sexuality, and nationality. We assume there is no need to fix disabilities. Instead, we build a better world that accommodates and respects people with disabilities.
What You Can Do with a Disability Studies Minor
The disability studies minor prepares students for careers in psychology and counseling, health and medicine, government, nonprofit agencies, advocacy, public policy and administration, education, and social work. Graduates can pursue careers in:
- Human and family services
- Physical, occupational and speech therapy
- K-12 education
- Pre-med and pre-law
- Arts and museum education
- Adaptive recreation
- Nonprofit organizations
- Public interest groups
- Advocacy
How Disability Studies Enriches Your Career
"As someone with an intellectual disability, I got to learn a lot about people with physical disabilities. It gave me a lot of broad advocacy skills to advocate on behalf of both physical and intellectual disabilities."
—Colin Wilfrid, Disability Studies Minor
Our Degree Program
Undergraduate students can earn a minor in disability studies with a focus on interdisciplinary studies and fieldwork that provides real-world experience.
Learn from Experts in the Field
Students minoring in disability studies will learn from faculty who are known experts in their respective fields. Because each student is given the flexibility to build their own course of study built on their specific interests, there are opportunities to work with faculty representing a broad range of departments.
Get Real-world Experience
Earn credit toward your minor while gaining hands-on experience in the field. You’ll have the opportunity to learn directly from people with disabilities through a wide variety of community partnerships in sports, schools, healthcare, direct support provision, the arts, and many other spheres of life.
Scholarships and Funding
Students in the Disability Studies Program can seek funding through the College of Arts and Sciences, which awards various scholarships both to incoming students and to those already attending the UO.
Academic Support
Students minoring in disability studies can consult our program director or seek support from the advising team at Tykeson College and Career Advising.