Bridging continents, cultures, and crip theories: teaching Comparative and International Disability Studies in education and sociology*

Abstract

This article deals with the question how to teach Disability Studies and Inclusive Education to international student populations in higher education (HE). It provides a glimpse into an example of teaching practice, namely a workshop on experiences and expectations of disabled international students in HE, organized by the second author. By referring to the notion of bridging, it reflects how various understandings of what disability is, can be linked up and made fruitful in the classroom. The proposal of this article is twofold: for the theorization of disability, that a variant of ‘Comparative and International Disability Studies’ shall come into being; and for the practice of inclusion in HE, that the time is ripe for a concrete and constructive discussion about the access, participation and educational achievement of international students with disabilities in universities abroad, as well as about appropriate forms of assistance for their mobility.