Re-vision, Re-right: Challenging Social Perception of Disability with Visual Storytelling

• Author / Creator

  Norris, Carmen

• This research examines the stories created for Project Citizenship, a collaborative action research project between the SKILLS Society, a non-profit agency that supports people with developmental disabilities, the University of Alberta and the Nina Haggerty Center for Arts. The majority of the stories take the form of short documentary film, each representing an individual supported by SKILLS.

  Using photography, survey, participant observation, and interview, this exercise in visual anthropology and qualitative research explores what stories can do and what they can mean for various individuals, namely filmmakers, the subjects of the stories and audience members. A better understanding of how people make sense of these stories in a local context provides insight into the potential visual stories have for challenging social perceptions of disability in our communities and creating a better world inclusive of all its diverse and valued citizens.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Visual Storytelling
  • Disability
  • Power of Story

• Graduation date

  Spring 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3PN8XN5R

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.