Thursday night was the Utah Valley University American Sign Language Club’s I’m a Deaf Studies Major, Now What? workshop, offered to the campus, but particularly to those majoring in Deaf Studies.
Several of the department heads presented, entirely in ASL and interpreted by students, about the options for students pursuing a Deaf Studies degree. Lectures about interpreting, linguistics, and education were presented in the two-hour workshop, with question and answer sessions after each presentation.
Events like these, sponsored by the ASL Club, are at the heart of the Deaf Studies program, and everyone with any interest in learning sign language is encouraged to come to the frequent activities put on by the club, the school, and the local Deaf community.
Rebecca Allred, president of the ASL Club, said, “The ASL Club, and any ASL class on campus for that matter, is a “Safe Zone.” No one will look down at you for having less than stellar skills – we’ve all been there and remember what it was like.”
According to Bryan Eldredge, ASL and Deaf Studies Program Coordinator, the involvement of Utah Valley’s Deaf community is responsible for UVU’s success in becoming the largest Deaf Studies program in the world.
About the engagement with the community, Eldredge said, “We’ve made a conscious effort to make that connection.”
In fact, many of the teachers Eldredge has hired are deaf and native signers. He himself was a child of a deaf adult, or a CODA, and when he was in graduate school, wrote his dissertation on ASL linguistic anthropology, which drew heavily upon his background with Deaf people. This unique dynamic of the program has helped hearing students become more involved with the people they eventually are going to work with.
Allred said, “Going to an event where there are many Deaf (meaning culturally deaf people) is just like going to an event where there are many Korean people. When the hearing community is able to understand that the Deaf belong to a culture group it becomes easier for them to feel at ease.”
Her views are shared by the program’s faculty and many of the ASL students on campus. Like other language classes, much of an ASL class discusses the culture of which the language is a part. Involvement with the community is a requirement in many ASL classes, and teachers encourage students to get out and sign with native signers, those who are culturally Deaf. Deaf people have made the decision to distinguish themselves by the capitalization of Deaf when referring to their culture or people, as opposed to the lowercase deaf, referring to the condition which separates them from the hearing community or culture.
For more information about UVU’s Deaf Studies program, click here. To join the ASL Club, contact aslclub@allredonline.com
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