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UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS IN

DISABILITY STUDIES

Why Disability Studies

Disability studies challenges how we see difference and invites us to imagine a more inclusive world. At Hofstra, you’ll explore disability not as a limitation but as a vital part of human experience and identity, examining how it’s represented in culture, policy, philosophy, and everyday life.

A minor in disability studies can help you prepare for a career in medicine, rehabilitation, audiology, or education or even law, business, journalism, or politics. In this program, you’ll study how disability appears in literature and film, how it’s defined by law and ethics, and how systems can empower or exclude, preparing you to lead with empathy and insight.

Understand Disability Differently

Explore how culture, policy, and lived experience shape our understanding of disability and work to build more inclusive systems.

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Two young men sit at a desk in a classroom, one using a wheelchair and laptop, both engaged in conversation. A whiteboard with notes and computers are visible in the background.

Hofstra, which offers 100% program accessibility for persons with disabilities, has a distinguished tradition of accessibility and hospitality to disabled people. The University has long welcomed students with a variety of disabilities, major and minor, visible and invisible, acquired and congenital.

Furthermore, Hofstra’s Axinn Library collection has substantial strength in the field. It carries many specialized journals, and its book collection is very comprehensive, in part because it benefits from state funding (through the Department of Education) and has been designated as a Long Island Library Resources Council “area library” for disability studies. Therefore, the University is rich in both disability history and resources.

The minor’s two dedicated courses — Introduction to Disability Studies and Disability in Literature and Culture — help students develop skills in argument and analysis. The interdisciplinary nature of the courses and the minor also encourages students to look at societal problems from multiple perspectives and in flexible and innovative ways.

Minor in Disability Studies

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View College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Program Director

Professor of English
Room 310 Mason Hall

516-463-5829

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DEEPEN YOUR PERSPECTIVES

Learn to build more inclusive communities, support equitable policy, and lead with empathy.