• University of New South Wales

Disability and a Good Life: Thinking through Disability

Learn how disability is part of who we are as human beings, and how a good life is possible for everyone.

7,731 enrolled on this course

Array of smiling, laughing, diverse faces
  • Duration

    6 weeks
  • Weekly study

    5 hours

Explore disability and reflect on what it means to have a good life

20% of the global population has a disability, which means most of us will have an experience of disability in our lives, whether personally, through family and friends, or in our workplaces and communities.

In this course, you’ll reflect on how disability is part of who we are as human beings. You’ll engage with stories from the diverse lives of people with disabilities, explore contemporary debates, and reflect on the many ways disability is understood and experienced. Above all, you’ll consider what it means to have a good life – and how a good life might be enabled for everyone.

What topics will you cover?

  • The difference between disability and impairment
  • The social and medical models of disability
  • The classification, labelling and counting of disability
  • The history of disability in the Global North
  • Disability across the life course
  • The intersection between disability and other identities or social categories
  • Western and non-western philosophical traditions that inform ideas of a good life

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Identify and explain how understandings of disability have changed over time
  • Evaluate the importance of listening to the ideas and life experiences of people with disabilities
  • Evaluate the usefulness of the social model as a framework for understanding disability inclusion
  • Explain the importance of examining disability across the life course
  • Explain and critically analyse how disability intersects with other dimensions of human diversity
  • Identify and explain what a good life might mean for a diversity of people, including people with disabilities

Who is the course for?

This course is suitable for both beginners and experts wanting to raise their awareness of disability and disability-related issues within a global context. It is appropriate for people with disabilities and their family members, friends and allies; professionals in the care and community service sectors; medical and allied health professionals; educators; built environment professionals; advocates and policy makers; scholars; and lifelong learners.

Thinking through Disability is an appropriate foundation for the course Working with Disability, which looks at disability and its relationship to human rights, access, advocacy and care.

Who will you learn with?

I'm a Lecturer at UNSW, Australia. I'm interested in the relationship between disability, social policy and social change. I think it's really important that universities share knowledge clearly.

I am an academic at UNSW Australia with more than twenty years experience in disability studies and in working for social change in the ways we understand and respond to disability.

I am a professor of disability policy and practice at the Social Policy Research Centre UNSW.I have undertaken research for twenty years with people with disabilities in Australia and internationally

Karen Soldatic is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow (2016 – 2019) at the Institute of Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.

With a background in architecture and interiors - and in higher education - I work mostly on community-based projects to make improvements to the built environment; particularly around disability

Who developed the course?

UNSW Sydney

Established in 1949 with a unique focus on the scientific, technological and professional disciplines, UNSW is a leading Australian university committed to making a difference

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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Get a taste of this course

Find out what this course is like by previewing some of the course steps before you join:

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