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The UMass Amherst School of Public Policy will offer a new class on disability policy next spring, in response to student demand for a course on the issue.
The course will be taught by Alex Green, a leader in the field of disability research and advocacy who is a visiting fellow at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and a lecturer in public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School. One of his focuses is the history of disability policies — where they’re succeeded, where they’ve failed, and what they can tell us about how policy can strengthen civil rights.
“If you have a democratic society, then you’ve agreed that there are things you're going to collectively work on, because you can't do them alone,” Green said. “And the best group of people to look at to decide whether or not those ideas and approaches are succeeding or failing is those who have the most need for those collective resources that ensure that they have an equal life and equal opportunity.”
The course, “Topics in Disability Policy,” will cover relevant policies, from major federal laws — such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which guarantees students access to public education — to state and local laws that address everything from public transit accommodations to ensuring that students with disabilities can participate in school sports programs. “There are things that go on in communities all over the country that are really potent, day-to-day things that people run into that policy can affect and change,” Green said.
The course syllabus will balance a historical policy perspective with practical, hands-on class projects. For one assignment, Green said, students will analyze state legislation through a disability-rights lens. “I want us to see where disability is and isn't in the legislation,” he said. “And when it isn’t there, I want students to explain how and where and why they want to insert provisions on disability rights.” Students will write a policy memo that they’ll send to lawmakers, with the goal of influencing bills currently before the legislature.
“It’s a chance for students to see the impact of being included — or not — in a law,” Green said. “What a single word or two can do in a policy. What the stroke of a pen can do to really change for the better the lives of a lot of people.”
Green also plans to take advantage of the strong disability rights movement in western Massachusetts to connect students with on-the-ground work, such as interviewing people with intellectual disabilities about how policies affect their daily lives. “There are lots of opportunities for students to feel, not just academically, but on a personal level, what kind of impact we could have,” he said. In addition, he will invite disability rights and policy leaders to class to talk to students about their work.
While Green will be on campus numerous times throughout the semester, “Topics in Disability Policy” will be taught via Zoom, to make the course more accessible. While Green was skeptical about the move to digital learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he quickly became a convert to the benefits of the approach.
“The pandemic has cast a really stark light on what is insufficient in our approach to disability policy and disability rights in this country,” he said. Online learning “made it possible for people who were facing absolutely unjust barriers to access the classroom in a way that they could thrive,” something he wants to reinforce in the class.
Griffin Leistinger, a master of public policy and administration student at SPP, had approached Director Alasdair Roberts earlier this semester to pitch the idea of a class on disability rights, which he believed was in keeping with the program’s focus on social justice. Roberts readily agreed to the idea, and Leistinger tapped into the network he developed working in the disability advocacy field to help recruit Green to teach the course.
Leistinger began studying disability issues as an undergraduate psychology major at UMass. At the time, he said, classes and campus supports focused on the topic were limited. “People with disabilities make up 20% of the population but have been kept out — often literally,” due to barriers from inaccessible buildings to inaccessible course materials, he said.
When Leistinger returned to UMass this fall to begin graduate school, he found that things had changed. “There's been a shift,” both at UMass and across the country, he said. “There are groups on campus that are really getting work done. There’s a lot of heart and hope on campus in this movement.”
Green is excited to introduce students to the largely overlooked history of the disability rights movement. “Disability touches everything in life,” he said, and can serve as a lens for understanding all kinds of policy issues. “I hope students walk away with a focused sense of how to evaluate policies for their strengths and weaknesses, and how to develop good, sensible policies and how to do the work of altering them when they need that work.
“Protest plays an enormous role in the disability rights movement, but so does really quiet, effective policy implementation,” he continued. “I want students to come away with a sense that they can do those things — evaluate policies, know the big things they tie to and what the outcomes will look like — and they can make those changes.”
Photo: Alex Green
About the School of Public Policy: Established in 2016, the UMass Amherst School of Public Policy prepares students for leadership in public service. The program’s focuses include social change and public policy related to science and technology.
Contact: Maureen Turner, associate director for marketing and communications, School of Public Policy
