My Critical Contextual Analysis final paper (on which I earned a 100%!)

Disability & social change (Spring 2025)

At this point in my college career, it had been more than a year since my last honors experience. I was missing the kind of discourse and learning environment that I'd only ever experienced in my previous honors classes, so I thought it was about time to take one again. This particular honors seminar caught my interest the most, knowing it was an appropriate, if not the most crucial, period in our history to take a course titled as such. I was in for a wonderful treat! This course explored the social model of disability and theories from an individual, institutional, and cultural perspective. I can confidently say that this was one of, if not my most, favorite class I've taken during my time at UC.

Meeting twice a week, we read from multiple theorists and learned different perspectives from lived experiences of people with disability. We would discuss and exchange ideas, learning from and about each other in class. Our course readings and discussions lead to the final paper, a Critical Contextual Analysis of any social justice issue rooted in disability studies. Read more about mine below!

This course was incredibly impactful because I felt like I left every class with something new. It challenged me to think critically about various issues, from disability to feminism to clinical research, as well as think about my own role in the context of disability as an able-bodied individual. I believe that I would have loved this class no matter who taught it, but Dr. Hulgin is truly one of a kind. Her consistent feedback, encouragement, and nudge for us to consider many different perspectives has equipped me with tools I can use both in academia and in every day life. She is the best!

What I Learned & How I Was Impacted

I learned how to read the bigger picture from taking DS 2100. The overarching goal of this course was to identify a specific injustice related to disability and apply the core concepts learnt in class to understand how that injustice manifests and is perpetuated in our society. I learned that biases and power dynamics are intrinsic to many cultural norms and upholds ableism. My CCA project dove into how these forces are sustained in institutional settings, such as clinical research. My learning taught me that injustice can happen even in contexts that seemingly support producing new knowledge. This process made me truly reconsider my own positionality in relation to disability and challenged where I had previously thought injustice exists. This course equipped me with skills in critical analysis, particularly of social issues, and to create actionable change about these problems. This is fundamental to being a Global Citizen Scholar, which prompts us to lead the effort in solving our world's complex problems.

This Honors seminar proved to be one of the most influential courses I have taken. Not only have I sharpened my skills in writing and critical reading, I have a newfound confidence in my ability to change a situation I thought was unmovable. For my future work in the field of clinical psychology, I now feel ready to take matters into my own hands and apply the principles of this course one mindful action at a time.