As a vibrant and diverse area of academic study, disability studies utilizes a cross-disability, intersectional and interdisciplinary approach that views disability as a social construct and people with disabilities as a minority group. The program in disability studies draws upon diverse disciplines such as history, sociology, law, policy studies, economics, anthropology, geography, philosophy, theology, gender studies, media studies, architecture and the arts in order to understand the social, cultural and political situation of disabled cultures. Students are critically challenged to reject simplistic definitions of disability as a restrictive, functional impairment that requires "fixing" or "curing". Rather, students learn to identify disability as a construct that finds its meaning within cultural contexts, is central to individual and social identity and crucial to changing political processes and public attitudes.

This program prioritizes development of theoretical, methodological, educational and advocacy models that redefine legal, physical, policy and attitudinal barriers excluding disabled communities from society.