Seth

The Florida State University

College of Communication and Information

School of Communication Science and Disorders

American Deaf Culture: ASL 2510-01

Fall 2009

Instructor: John W. Justl

E-Mail Address: jwjustl@fsu.edu

Office Hours: Appointment Required

Course Description

Discussion of various aspects of the American Deaf Culture; including description of deafness, causes and implications of deafness, Deaf people, the deaf community as defined by audiologists, medical practitioners, and/or cultural means, services for and by Deaf people, and culture as reflected in the arts and language of Deaf people.

General Overview of Course Content

This course is designed to support students interested in learning about the rich and varied culture of individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. General objectives include:

1. To provide the student with background and understanding of the experiences faced by Deaf people, and their varying degrees of participation in deaf culture/deaf community.

2. To acquaint the student with Deaf people’s social, emotional, educational, vocational, intellectual, linguistic and spiritual aspects.

3. To acquaint the student with a perspective of historical and current struggles to overcome problems experienced by Deaf people.

Specifically the student will be able to:

A. Describe a general approach to the study of the American Deaf Culture including why, how, and what to study.

B. Discuss the history of Deaf culture from early ideas about Deaf people and the changes that have taken place during the past three centuries.

C. Identify varying cultural and linguistic background of Deaf people.

D. Define the difference between pathological and cultural status of Deaf people.

E. Describe the structure of the Deaf cultural group and of the deaf community.

F. Describe how American Sign Language fits into the family of human languages and a...