Course: REL 4389  |  Disability Ethics
Institution: Baylor University
Faculty: Dr. Devan Stahl

Excerpt from Syllabus
This course is not only about acquiring new information, but it also aims to form virtue. Think of this class as a community in which we practice virtuous habits together. We will practice virtues through our engagement with one another, course texts, and our local community. Although all the virtues are linked, we will focus on three virtues in our time together:

1. Compassion - This course will introduce you to several first-person accounts of disability and allow you to spend time with people with disabilities to understand their lives, their gifts, and their challenges. For some students, practicing compassion will mean setting
   aside preconceived notions or feelings of pity to see people with disabilities as they truly are. Other students will practice compassion by forgiving others’ lack of experiential knowledge and becoming a peer mentor.
2. Courage - It takes courage to rewrite our cultural narratives around disability. We will practice courage by sharing our lived experiences, freely admitting what we do not know, and gently correcting one another when we say things that are callous or hurtful.
3. Justice- This course will help you understand how far the disability rights movement has come, but also what is still left undone. We will attune ourselves to disability accessibility by auditing the Baylor campus, probing our church experiences, and advocating for policies and practices that honor disabled lives.

My hope is that you will learn from and with people with disabilities in a spirit of openness and humility with an eye toward disability justice.