Specialization
Disability and Difference
The Disability & Difference specialization draws from Disability Studies to examine the social, political, cultural, and economic factors that shape disability across time, cultures, and communities. Students explore how disability is understood and constructed in different contexts, with attention to intersectional relationships among disability, race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality.
Within Human and Health Services, this specialization centers lived experience and diverse ways of thinking, communicating, and moving through the world, preparing students to support inclusion, access, advocacy, and equity across health and human service systems. Students who successfully complete the Disability & Difference specialization in HHS will also receive a minor in Disability Studies.
Specialization in practice
Graduates with a Disability & Difference specialization often work in roles such as:
Disability services or accessibility coordinator
Case management and human services support roles
Community involvement or advocacy specialist
Nonprofit or government disability services agencies
Policy, outreach, or education support roles
Program coordination roles focused on access and opportunity
Support roles within health, education, or community-based organizations
Taking your education further
Although students will be career ready upon graduating, the HHS degree with a Disability & Difference specialization is a clear pathway for graduate school in such areas as:
- Public Administration
- Public Health
- Public Policy
- Medicine
- Social Work (MSW)
- Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- Instructional Design and Educational Technology
- Learning Sciences
- Special Education