On March 9, 2022, Mr. Kocher Karim, Director of the Thalassemia Society in Sulaimani, spoke about this hereditary blood disorder and about his own experiences with it in “Introduction to Disability Studies.” This class, which focuses on disability as a cultural and historical phenomenon, and on disability rights as social justice, is part of the gender minor. One of the issues that came up in this session was the social model of disability, in which the community supports all of its members, including those with disabilities, as potential contributors to society. The social model is in opposition to the medical model, which often goes hand in hand with eugenics, in which the person with a disability is seen as broken, and a burden on society.
Image description: Twenty people, ten men and ten women, stand in a row against two whiteboards in a classroom. Desks are visible in front of the row of people.