The Drs. John S. & Betty J. Schuchman Deaf Documentary Center educates students in the documentary arts, explores the lives of deaf people, and cultivates awareness of human diversity through shared fieldwork, stories and scholarship.

Vision: How we do it...

Forming networks on the Gallaudet campus and with external collaborators, the Center offers learning opportunities in the documentary process combined with product creation and dissemination. The Drs. John S. & Betty J. Schuchman Deaf Documentary Center educates, documents and presents as outlined below.

  • Educate: Through partnerships the Schuchman Center teaches documentary studies in film, photography, and narrative writing. Grounded in the field of Deaf History but incorporating multiple academic disciplines, the Schuchman Center educates Gallaudet students in the documentary arts. Cross-listed courses, guest presenters and shared workshops promote collaboration across disciplines. Gallaudet faculty and staff form the primary network that enables students to engage in documentary studies.
  • Document: Using filmed, photographed and written narrative fieldwork, historical methodology and digital search systems, the Schuchman Center identifies significant issues, endangered cultural knowledge, symbolic meanings, values, and individual or community aesthetic appreciations. The Schuchman Center creates documentary products such as exhibitions, publications, written narratives, photographs, and accessible formats of film and new media to share stories of deaf life.
  • Present: Through screenings, openings, exhibitions, publications and online web presentations, the Schuchman Center showcases documentary work of collaborators as well as a growing portfolio of products by Gallaudet students, faculty and staff to engage the campus and wider audiences.