Education at the Disability Center

Students and professionals from varied disciplines seek to accomplish the following educational objectives:

  1. Develop presentation skills for scholarly and professional audiences
  2. Develop writing skills in areas of law research and policy analysis for scholarly, policy-oriented, practitioner, and consumer publications
  3. Study related legal, legislative, and policymaking issues
  4. Develop awareness of disability issues in employment, society, and technology
  5. Partner with local and national disability organizations

As part of the Center's efforts to train and supervise students, several courses are offered.
Courses include the following:

  1. A year-long, six credit seminar, with students engaged in law, health policy, and disability research on the activities at the Center (in 1999-2000, approximately 16 law and graduate students enrolled, with law school writing credits available for the law students). Seminar link
  2. Interdisciplinary study for educational endeavors by master's- and doctoral-level graduate students from colleges at the University (e.g., Colleges of Education, Law, Liberal Arts, Medicine, and Public Health).
  3. A three-credit class on federal disability law and policy (average 50-90 students enrolled). Course description or Course syllabus
  4. A two-credit comparative disability law course that introduces students to existing and developing laws and policies designed to protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination in employment, and in public and private programs and services. Its primary focus will be to examine the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA ) as an example that other countries -- such as England, Ireland, India, Germany, France and Japan -- and the United Nations have considered in developing notions of disability rights. This course is taught in Arcachon, France. Course description or Course syllabus
  5. A continuing law education (CLE) class entitled "2001-2002 'Disability Term' Before the US Supreme Court: Americans with Disabilities Act Update." Most recent class or More Information about CLE.
  6. The Center is a site for the Workplace Learning Connection, an internship/practicum program in the Iowa City area that offers a 9-week course for credit for high school seniors and juniors to engage in practical work experience.
    Workplace Learning Connection description