Advanced Special Topics
ABOUT THE ADVANCED SPECIAL TOPICS
We share some upcoming Honors College Forums below. For a full listing and descriptions of past Honors College courses, visit our course archive.
LANGUAGES OF NEURODIVERSITY
Language is one of the ways we create our reality. The term “neurodiversity,” for
example, is often mistakenly used as a euphemism for autism or adhd and is assumed
to be the opposite of “neurotypical.” What sort of reality do these words and their
use (or misuse) create and express, from whose point of view and to whose benefit?
We will explore these ideas—both in the course materials and in the structure of the
course itself.
In this seminar, we will begin by exploring the rise of the concept of neurodiversity, which refers to the diversity of neurotypes in the human population, and the ways it has been used to create binary notions of “neurodivergence” and “neurotypicality.” We will look at the language of “neurotypicality.” We will then look for and study the ways (conscious and unconscious) that people who identify as “ND” (neurodivergent) express their experiences—and even question the idea of “neurodivergent” or “neurotypical.” What kinds of “languages” do we use? How do different languages around the world conceive of neurodiversity? How do our perceptions of space and time affect our expression? Among the wide array of perspectives in this course are autism, adhd, dyslexia, dyscalculia, ocd, Tourette syndrome, epilepsy, depression, and neurotypicality; and we will discuss throughout how gender, race, and socioeconomic status reverberate in the neurodiversity paradigm.
The class itself is meant to enact the neurodiversity paradigm—all neurotypes are welcome!
This course is taught by Jennifer Hoyer.