The MA program takes an interdisciplinary approach informed by various academic fields including law, anthropology, health studies, history, geography, economics, education, labour studies, political science, social work, sociology, identity politics, gender studies, and refugee and immigration studies. For instance theories of human rights form the basis for understanding how existing legal, economic and social rationales for inclusion relate to systemic barriers and oppression.

The program is offered full or part-time to students from a variety of backgrounds, including persons with disabilities engaged in the disability rights movement, government workers, professionals in the field of disability and people working in non-governmental organizations such as community organizations and advocacy groups.

You’ll have the opportunity to attend refereed conferences, publish in refereed journals and produce op-ed pieces right from your first year.

The PhD program offers a comprehensive curriculum covering major scholarly perspectives. It is offered on a full-time basis only.

The PhD. program structure and environment encourages advanced research, new scholarship and offers other opportunities to contribute to disability studies as an interdisciplinary field of critical inquiry. CDS enables a multi-disciplinary group of students to explore disability from a critical perspective in relation to social policy, social justice, human rights issues, and social movements in Canada and internationally.

Choose York:

• York offers the first critical disability studies program in Canada. It is research-based and deals with contemporary and historical questions. Our program emphasizes the importance of activism among both students and faculty; community involvement is an essential part of critical disability studies work.
• Faculty spans diverse disciplines including law, anthropology, health studies, geography, economics, education, fine arts, labour studies, political science, social work, sociology, identity politics, gender studies, refugee and immigration studies, history and aging studies.

• We offer a law and disability course that is distinct within our program.