Constructing the Teaching Sociology of Disability in Poland: A New Direction?

The sociology of disability has emerged relatively recently as a subfield in sociology and has seen growing institutionalization within the field including the establishment of a section in the Polish Sociological Association. The sociology of disability in Poland expanded the scope of its scholarship over time. Initially a field dominated by medical of sociology scholars and the experience of socio-medical people with disabilities, the field increasingly embraced diversity, intersectionality, and interdisciplinary approaches. Due to the recent emergence of the sociology of disability in polish academy and the lack of established text and journals for the field, faculty teaching in the field have both the opportunity and the challenge to define the field. This presentation seeks to examine the broad question: (1) how do faculty construct and communicate the sociology of disability in Poland? (2) whose knowledges are ignored? (3) to what extent do academic teachers use readings by people with disabilities? (4) whose knowledges count? (to note, being a persons with a disability is not mutually exclusive from being a sociologist). To address my research questions, I conducted a content analysis of current syllabi in the sociology of disability in polish universities. I focus on syllabi used within 2014-2024. To examine the existence of a core, I analyzed the course, description, learning objectives, and course topics. I used grounded theory highlight the themes that arose in each of the areas.