Deaf Studies & Sign Language
Offered through the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, the program is unique for its wealth of opportunities to learn American Sign Language and sign languages such as Black Sign Language from native ASL signers. You will develop proficiency in ASL through our three-year language program which consists of formal classroom instruction, practicums and cocurricular activities.
Areas of Study
- The course offerings provide students with the humanist and cultural perspectives that deaf people are not disabled, but rather a cultural and linguistic group.
- Our program is one of very few in the country that offers practicums, which are small group practice sessions with ASL signers that meet twice a week, in conjunction to regular language instruction.
- In addition to practicums, the community-based learning component of our second-year courses will afford you the opportunity to interact with a wide range of native ASL signers on a weekly basis outside the classroom and practicum.
- For students who are interested in a truly immersive experience in ASL, we offer a study away program at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world鈥檚 only liberal arts college that uses ASL as its language of instruction and where ASL is primarily spoken on campus.
Requirements
Through the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, students can develop a multidisciplinary major combining deaf studies with other disciplines within the College. Multidisciplinary majors incorporating ASL and Deaf Studies curriculum have included themes such as Literacy in Deaf Education, Deaf Studies and the Arts, Social Issues in Deaf Education and Language Acquisition and (Deaf) Culture.
Students will need to take six courses as following:
A. ASL courses
DFST 201 - Intermediate ASL 1
DFST 202 - Intermediate ASL 2
DFST 301 - ASL Comp & Con
B. Deaf Studies - two courses required by Deaf Studies that are regularly offered within the program:
DFST 109 - Intro to Deaf Studies (required)
DFST 303 (formerly 203) - Deaf Literature (required)
C. One additional approved course with a focus on ASL or Deaf Studies taken at 51小黄车 or at another institution. This could be any of the following courses regularly offered at 51小黄车, or an approved course offered at another institution:
DFST 300: The Deaf Community, Language, and Culture
DFST 350: Experience in the Deaf Community: Internship Seminar
EDUC 167: Educational Psychology
EDUC 245: Dis/Ability Theory and Practice
EDUC 340: Multicultural Education
PSYC 220: Sensation and Social Neuroscience
PSYC 222: Sensation & Perception
PSYC 225: Developmental Psychology
PSYC 237: Psychology of Language
PSYC 353: Language, Thoughts, and Culture
MUSC 145: Music and Disabilities
Sample Courses
- Elementary American Sign Language 1
- Introduction To Deaf Studies
- Intermediate American Sign Language 1
- The Deaf Community: Language and Culture
- Deaf Literature
- Experience in the Deaf Community
Meet Your Lecturer
Opportunities
American Sign Language Club
The American Sign Language Club is a registered student organization that provides students with a fun environment to learn about sign language and deaf culture and offers study help and a place to practice for those taking the language course.
Community-Based Learning
Many courses offered through the Deaf Studies and Sign Languages program include a Community-Based Learning component, fusing students鈥 learning experience together with community engagement. The program collaborates with about a dozen partners in the Deaf community on a range of community-based learning projects, such as performing research for nonprofit organizations, organizing community events with Deaf leaders and offering educational activities to Deaf high school students.
Semester Away Program
Students who are interested in gaining a more complete immersion experience in the 鈥淒eaf World鈥 can link their learning and living by attending Gallaudet University, the world鈥檚 only deaf university, located in Washington, D.C. Students attend one semester at Gallaudet as a visiting student through the Semester Away Program at 51小黄车.