Description
9 Credit Hours Required Courses + 3 Credit Hours Elective Courses = 12 Credit Hours
Earn the Interdisciplinary Leadership in Disability Studies Certificate and enhance your graduate degree. Certification takes only three required courses (9 credit hours) plus one elective course related to your major. Earning the certificate will help you connect your major and your interest in working with people with disabilities.
The Institute for Human Development offers the Leadership in Disability Studies Certificate for students who have earned a bachelor's degree and who wish to obtain advanced training in the emerging, interdisciplinary field of disability studies. The certificate may accompany a master's degree or may be earned on its own. To earn the certificate, students take 9 credit hours of required courses and 3 hours from a selection of elective courses that compliment a variety of social science, social work, law, management, administration, and education majors. The benefits of earning the certificate for working professionals include increased knowledge of the disability studies field, enhanced leadership skills, CEUs for licensure, broadening employment options, and making connections in disability fields.
Disability Studies is a relatively new, interdisciplinary field focused on the social and cultural context of disability. Similar to women's studies or African American studies, this field considers disability as a social minority group with an emphasis on the way in which disability is constructed culturally, politically, economically, rather than the traditional emphasis on the physiology of impairment.
Through the certificate program, students will collaborate with and learn directly from persons with disabilities and professionals in the field from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students who earn the certificate will be positioned to provide leadership in their chosen occupations.
Prerequisites
The certificate may accompany a master's degree or may be earned on its own.
Certification Requirements
To earn the certificate, students take 9 credit hours of required courses and 3 hours from a selection of elective courses that compliment a variety of social science, social work, law, management, administration, and education majors.
Required Courses
- Leadership in Disability Studies: A Multidisciplinary Approach
- Life Span Issues in Developmental Disabilities
- Disability & Community Support: An Academic Service-Learning Course
Elective Courses
- Disability Law
- Health Promotion Across the Lifespan
- Pyschopathology: A Competency Based Assessment Model in Social Work Practice
- Government and Legal Aspects of Special Education
Meet the Faculty
How to Get Started
Gainful Employment Disclosure for Leadership in Disability Studies