DST-744 International Connections and International Sign Among Deaf People

Course Overview

For nearly two centuries, deaf people have circulated in international spaces, exchanging ways of living as deaf people across local, regional and international borders. This course will introduce students in deaf studies and sign language interpreting to the history, motivations, and dynamics of transnational connections among deaf people. This circulation of peoples and ideas over time is explored through framing networks of signing deaf people as composed of translocal as well as transnational methodologies of circulation. Attempts at articulating a shared experience of being deaf across geographical distances will be discussed alongside differences regarding mobility, power and resources among deaf people around the globe. These circulations are enabled through a communication practice known as International Sign, where both conventionalized signs and a broad repertoire of visual communication strategies are utilized to enable communication across different sign language communities. The course will give students a basic introduction to the concept and practice of International Sign.