PORTRAITS OF DISABILITY AND DIFFERENCE

 

 

Writing Seminar 118, Fall 2025                                              Prof. Kristin Lindgren

Tuesday/Thursday 2:30-4 PM                                                klindgre@haverford.edu

Stokes 205                                                                                    office hours by appointment                                                                                                                                                 

COURSE DESCRIPTION                      

 

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson writes: “staring is an interrogative gesture that asks what’s going on and demands the story. The eyes hang on, working to recognize what seems illegible, order what seems unruly, know what seems strange.” In this seminar we will explore visual and literary portraits and self-portraits of bodies marked by difference, bodies that often elicit stares, as well as bodies and minds with non-visible differences. We will ask: What kinds of stories are told about these bodies? How do memoirs and self-portraits by people with disabilities draw on and challenge traditions of life writing and portraiture? How does this work enlarge cultural and aesthetic views of embodiment, disability, and difference? How do portraits of disability engage differences of gender, race, and class? The course will include a unit on deafness, Deaf culture, and Deaf schools, and we will partner with the ASL 1 course through a Mellon Foundation grant entitled “Together with Humanities: Language, Community and Power.” Through close readings of essays, memoirs, novels, paintings, and photographs, students will hone their descriptive and interpretive skills and develop their ability to craft clear and persuasive arguments. [Counts towards the minors in Visual Studies and in Health Studies]

 

REQUIRED TEXTS

Sara Nović, True Biz

Susan Nussbaum, Good Kings, Bad Kings

You can order a copy from the bookstore, borrow one from the library, or order an audio version.

Essays and videos by Laura Hershey, Rachel Kolb, Stella Young, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Eli Clare, Riva Lehrer, Alice Wong, Elliot Kukla,, Georgina Kleege, Haben Girma, Alice Sheppard, Harriet McBryde Johnson, Sara Nović, Nicola Griffith, and others. Many of the readings and viewings for the course will be in the form of articles, websites, and images that I will make available as we proceed.

  

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

Attend every class and tutorial session and, if possible, let me know ahead of time if you need to miss class or tutorial. Your attendance is also required at a talk by Rachel Kolb on Nov. 4^th, 4:30-6 PM.

Writing assignments for this course include informal writing, close readings, and three formal essays, each one submitted as a first draft and revision. After the first draft of each longer essay is due, we will meet in writing tutorials, groups of three to four students who read and comment on one another’s essays. Preparation for tutorial is an important part of the course; you will learn by reading one another’s drafts as well as by listening to your fellow students comment on yours. Please turn in your draft on time; four people (including me!) are eager to read it and discuss it with you in tutorial. Remember that it’s a first draft and you will have ample opportunity to revise and strengthen it. A revised version of your essay will be due about a week after your tutorial group meets. Other course assignments include informal oral presentations, attendance at a talk by author Rachel Kolb, and a self-portraiture project. Writing assignments will typically be due on Sunday evenings. 

Portraits of Disability and Difference is a discussion-based seminar, and it’s important that you prepare for and contribute to class discussion. As you read, please mark passages that you find interesting, important, maddening, or confusing; take notes; and formulate questions and ideas that you would like to discuss in class. As you view images, listen to audio, or view and listen to clips or films, please take notes and formulate questions. I will sometimes ask you to post comments, questions, and responses to others’ posts on our course page on the web platform Serendip.

The course will be graded holistically based on your full semester’s work, including your first drafts and revised essays and your course contributions, including your contributions to class discussion and tutorials and on Serendip. There are many ways to contribute and participate, including as a listener and respondent; participation is understood broadly as engagement with the course material and with your classmates. All of your written work will be gathered in an e-portfolio submitted at the end of the course.

 

TEACHING AND LEARNING WHEN LIFE HAPPENS

I am committed to creating a classroom community that is inclusive, equitable, and conducive to learning for all students, as well as sensitive to the unpredictable challenges we may encounter individually or collectively. If you are unable to attend class or complete an assignment by the due date, I ask that whenever possible you let me know ahead of time and work with me to determine when you will complete the work. If it is not possible for you to request extra time beforehand, I ask that you maintain communication with me so that we can work together to determine a good course of action.

 

GENERATIVE AI

ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other LLMs are quickly evolving. I hope to learn along with you how they might be useful for some writing tasks, including brainstorming and proofreading. Please don’t turn in an essay entirely produced by gen AI, an essay that would likely be coherent and grammatically correct but also shallow and sometimes factually wrong. You are, however, welcome to experiment with AI and share what you learn with the class. If you used AI for any part of the writing process, I’d like you to explain briefly in a note at the end of your draft or revised essay how you used it, in part so I can learn more about what it does well or not so well. 

        

OFFICE HOURS

I welcome one-on-one conversations with you during office hours. I have found that “by appointment” office hours work better for me and my students than a two-hour time weekly time slot during which you may or may not be free. Simply email me to make an appointment, and we will find a time that works for both of us.

 

LEARNING STYLES, ACCESS, AND DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS

I invite you to talk with me early in the semester about how you learn best and how we can make our classroom and class projects as accessible and generative for you and others as possible. As a class, we will try to enact the principles of universal design. Let’s try to create a more inclusive and accessible world! 

College Statement: Haverford College is committed to creating a learning environment that meets the needs of its diverse student body and providing equal access to students with a disability. If you have (or think you have) a learning difference or disability – including mental health, medical, or physical impairment – please contact the Office of Access and Disability Services (ADS) at hc-ads@haverford.edu. The Director will confidentially discuss the process to establish reasonable accommodations.  It is never too late to request accommodations – our bodies and circumstances are continuously changing.

Students who have already been approved to receive academic accommodations and want to use their accommodations in this course should share their accommodation letter and make arrangements to meet with me as soon as possible to discuss how their accommodations will be implemented in this course. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and require advance notice in order to successfully implement.

If, at any point in the semester, a disability or personal circumstances affect your learning in this course, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I want to be sure you are aware of the full range of resources and options available to you.

It is a state law in Pennsylvania that individuals must be given advance notice if they are to be recorded.  Therefore, any student who has a disability-related need to audio record this class must first be approved for this accommodation from the Coordinator of Access and Disability Services and then must speak with me.  Other class members will need to be aware that this class may be recorded.

 

CAMPUS RESOURCES

I encourage you to use any and all of the campus resources available to support your development as a writer, speaker, learner, and human, including the Writing Center, the Office of Academic Resources, the Office of Access and Disability Services, the GRASE Center, the Dean’s Office, and Counseling and Psychological Services. Another document, which I’ll email to you, contains more detailed information about these and other resources.

College statement: If you are experiencing challenges or questions related to emotional health, finances, physical health, relationships, learning strategies or differences, or other potential stressors, I hope you will consider reaching out to the many resources available on campus. These resources include CAPS (free and unlimited counseling is available), the Office of Academic Resources, Health Services, Professional Health Advocate, Religious and Spiritual Life, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the GRASE Center, and the Dean’s Office. Additional information can be found at https://www.haverford.edu/deans-office-student-life/offices-resources.

 

TITLE IX STATEMENT

Haverford College is committed to fostering a safe and inclusive living and learning environment where all can feel secure and free from harassment. All forms of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, domestic violence, and dating violence are violations of Haverford’s policies, whether they occur on or off campus. Haverford faculty are committed to helping to create a safe learning environment for all students and for the College community as a whole. If you have experienced any form of gender or sex-based discrimination, harassment, or violence, know that help and support are available. Staff members are trained to support students in navigating campus life, accessing health and counseling services, providing academic and housing accommodations, and more.
 
The College strongly encourages all students to report any incidents of sexual misconduct. Please be aware that all Haverford employees (other than those designated as confidential resources such as counselors, clergy, and healthcare providers) are required to report information about such discrimination and harassment to the Bi-College Title IX Coordinator: https://www.haverford.edu/users/ktaylor4

Information about the College’s Sexual Misconduct policy, reporting options, and a list of campus and local resources can be found on the College’s website: https://www.haverford.edu/sexual-misconduct

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE 

T Sept 2                      

Introducing the course and ourselves

 

Th September 4         

Add a username and avatar/image to Serendip

Laura Hershey, “Getting Comfortable” (pdf, 4 pages)

Rachel Kolb, "The Deaf Body in Public Space" (2 pages)

Stella Young, “I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much” (9 minutes)

 

Browse Riva Lehrer’s portraits and self-portraits on her website

Browse My Body My House: Disability Poetics

Choose one or more of these visual or poetic portraits you’d like to discuss in class

 

Sun September 7       

Informal writing due by 10 PM

 

WEEK TWO          

T September 9           

Portraits Deconstructed (4 minute video)

Shearer West, Introduction to Portraiture (pdf) pages 9-14 (5 pages), skim the rest

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, “Picturing People with Disabilities: Classical Portraiture as Reconstructive Narrative” (PDF, 16 pages)

                                   

Th September 11       

Riva Lehrer, Tedx talk, “Valuable Bodies” (20 minutes)

The Outwin 2022: Jurors and Artists Compilation (17 minute video)           

Browse the portraits by the 2022 Outwin Winners and Finalists

Optional: Browse the portraits by the 2019 Outwin Winners and Finalists

                                   

And/Or Browse these poems:

Edward Hirsch, Self-Portrait

Edward Hirsch, Self-Portrait (audio)

Luisa A. Igloria, Portraits

N. Scott Momaday, A Benign Self-Portrait

Chen Chen, Self-Portrait as So Much Potential

 

Sun September 14     

Close reading of a portrait (an image or a poem) due by 10 PM

 

WEEK THREE 

T September 16         

Closely observe three portraits by Riva Lehrer:

Lynn Manning, Eli Clare, Alice Sheppard

Then read these short pieces by their subjects:

Lynn Manning, “The Magic Wand” (PDF, 1 page)

Alice Sheppard, “I Dance Because I Can” (3 pages)

 Eli Clare, “The Mountain” from Exile and Pride (PDF, 14 pages)

                                   

Th September 18

Visit to the LOOK HERE exhibition, Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery in Whitehead Campus Center, and discussion with curator Jennifer Gilbert

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, “The Politics of Staring: Visual Rhetorics of Disability in Popular Photography” (PDF, 19 pages with images)

Choose 2-3 portraits to write about in your first essay

 

Fri September 19       

Optional: Exhibition Opening for LOOK HERE and LOOK THERE, 4:30-7 PM

Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Whitehead Campus Center, and VCAM

 

Sun September 21   

First Draft of Essay #1 due by 10 PM

 

WEEK FOUR               

T September 23         

Tutorials meet this week

Choose an image, audio clip, or audiovisual clip from contemporary culture--an ad, a social media post, a clip from a youtube channel or other video, TV show or film, etc.-- that includes a representation of disability or deafness, and think about the visual and/or oral rhetoric it employs. How does it exemplify, expand, or resist the dominant rhetorics of disability that Rosemarie Garland-Thomson outlines? Post it on Serendip (it may take a minute to figure out how to post images, audio, or audiovisual clips) and be prepared to share your post and discuss your response/analysis briefly with the class.

Th September 25

Tutorial during class time

Optional: 4:30-6 Haben Girma, author of Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law, Science Center 101/Chang Hou Hall, Swarthmore College. 

 

WEEK FIVE                      

T September 30         

Georgina Kleege, “Introduction” and “A Portrait of the Artist by His Blind Daughter” (PDFs, 27 pages in all) from Sight Unseen  

Haben Girma, “Guide Dogs Don’t Lead Blind People. We Wander as One,” (PDF, 3 pages)

                                   

Wed October 1          

Opening of Exhibition LOOK EVERYWHERE

Atelier Gallery, Philadelphia (attendance not required)

                                               

Th October 2              

Harriet McBryde Johnson, Preface and Chapters 1 and 10 from Too Late to Die Young (35 pages in all)

 

Sun October 5            

Revised draft of essay #1 due by 10 PM

 

WEEK SIX          

T October 7                

Harriet McBryde Johnson, “Unspeakable Conversations,” chapter 9 of Too Late to Die Young, PDF (27 pages)

 

Th October 9              

Alice Wong, "Am I Expendable During this Pandemic?" (2 pages)

Elliot Kukla, "My Life is More 'Disposable' During this Pandemic"(2 pages)

Katie Savin and Laura Guidry-Grimes, "Confronting Disability Discrimination During the Pandemic" (5 pages)                

                       

FALL BREAK

                                                                                                                                   

WEEK SEVEN

NO CLASS Tuesday as I will be at a symposium related to LOOK HERE 

T October 21              

True Biz, pages 1-119

 

Th October 23            

True Biz, pages 120-182

Sara Nović, “A Clearer Message on Cochlear Implants” (3 pages)

           

Sun October 26          

First draft of essay #2 due by 10 PM

                        

WEEK EIGHT                          

T October 28              

Tutorials meet this week

True Biz, pages 183-226

                                                           

Th October 30            

Tutorial during class                                      

                                                     

WEEK NINE                                                              

T November 4            

Selected chapters from Rachel Kolb’s Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice

Rachel Kolb will visit our class

4:30-6 PM, Library 200: Required talk and Q &A with Rachel Kolb       

                                                           

Th November 6          

True Biz, pages 227-278

                                                                                      

Sun November 9        

Revised essay #2 submitted by 10 PM

 

WEEK TEN                                   

T November 11

Meet in VCAM to view documentary film Deaf Jam, also streamable via Kanopy             

True Biz, pages 279-326

                                                     

Th November 13        

Finish reading True Biz, pages 327-381

 

WEEK ELEVEN

T November 18

Sara Nović, "'The Vehicle for My Feelings': How Sign Language Helped a Deaf Author Find her Voice." (pdf, 3 pages)

Nicola Griffith, Rewriting the Old Disability Script (2 pages)

Susan Nussbaum, Good Kings, Bad Kings, pages 1-59 (it's a quick read!)

Content Warning: physical and sexual abuse and rape, accidental death, overmedication. The novel also contains a lot of love, resilience, and crip humor.

       

Th November 20        

Good Kings, Bad Kings, pages 60-133

Start imagining a self-portraiture project. 
There are very few constraints: the assignment is simply to create a self-representation, in any medium, that reflects how you see or imagine yourself right now. It can also reflect past or future selves, but should focus on the present.

 

WEEK TWELVE

Sun November 15      

Proposal for Essay #3 due by 10 PM, or by Tuesday

T November 25          

Good Kings, Bad Kings, pages 134-198         

           

THANKSGIVING BREAK

 

WEEK THIRTEEN

T December 2            

Finish Good Kings, Bad Kings

Cheryl Green, In My Home (6 minutes                             

                                                                                                                                                                                               

Th December 4

Ten Principles of Disability Justice              

   

Sun December 7        

First draft of essay #3 due at 10 PM

 

WEEK FOURTEEN 

T December 9

Documentary film Crip Camp, streamable on Netflix and Youtube (1 hour, 48 min)                 

Tutorials this week    

Work on your self-portrait

                                     

Th December 11        

Last class: gallery of self-portraits

Bring to class your self-portrait and a printed-out reflection, about a paragraph long, on some of the choices you made when constructing it.

 

EXAM WEEK              

Course Portfolio, including revised draft of essay #3, due by noon Dec. 19

 

Portfolio Instructions 

Below are instructions for submitting your final essay, your portfolio, and your course reflection. This process invites you to look back on the work you've done over the semester and reflect on what you’ve learned.

1. Please submit your revised essay #3 and your portfolio by 12 PM Friday, Dec. 19. I cannot give extensions beyond this deadline; only your dean can do so. Please do talk to your dean if illness or other life stuff makes it difficult to complete your work by this deadline. 

2. Your portfolio consists of all your writing and revisions for the semester, an image or clip of your self-portrait, your Serendip posts, and your course reflection. You can collect most of these things (excluding Serendip posts) in one google folder.  

3. If you click "e-portfolio" you'll see that all your Serendip postings are already collected in one place. I can easily see them here and you don't need to send them separately. 

4. Review your portfolio and reflect on your learning this semester (not just what appears in concrete form in your portfolio). Then, please write an informal essay of about 2 pages reflecting on this learning, on where you were at the beginning of the semester and where you are now. Do you see any particular questions or themes that occupied you throughout the semester?  Look back over the syllabus on Serendip if you wish. Think about your writing and your other contributions inside and outside class, in tutorials, and on Serendip. You can consider some of the questions below, but you do not need to answer all of them. 

How has your understanding of disability and/or deafness been expanded or challenged? In what contexts did learning happen for you, and how did you contribute to others’ learning? How did you develop as a reader, a writer, and a thinker, and how do you hope to develop further? What will you take from this course into your future coursework and into your future as a human? You can email this to me or post it on Serendip if you'd like to share it.

Please send me an email with all of these things (essays, image or clip of self-portrait, course reflection) attached. I look forward to spending some time with your portfolios. If you have any questions whatsoever about the process, feel free to email me.