Course Descriptions
ASL 101, 102 - (4) (Y)
Elementary
American Sign Language
Prerequisite for ASL 102: ASL 101 or successful completion of placement interview.
Introduces receptive and expressive
American Sign Language skills, including basic vocabulary, sentence structure,
classifiers, use of space, non-manual type indicators, and fingerspelling. Examines
Deaf people as a linguistic and cultural minority.
ASL 201, 202 - (3)
(Y)
Intermediate
American Sign Language
Prerequisite for ASL 201:
ASL 102 or successful completion of placement interview.
Prerequisite for ASL 202: ASL 201 or successful completion
of placement interview.
Continues training in American Sign Language, with focus on more complex sentence types, signs, and idioms. May consider ASL literary forms such as poetry, theater, and storytelling, as well as Deaf history and other related topics.
ASL 230 - (3) (IR)
Women and Gender in the Deaf World (Cross-listed as SWAG 230)
No prerequisite. Open to students with no knowledge of ASL.
Examines the roles of deaf women inside and outside of the signing Deaf community. Using an interdisciplinary approach, considers such topics as language and cultural barriers, violence against women, sexuality, race, class, education, and work. Investigates disparities between deaf and hearing women and the choices available to d/Deaf women, individually and collectively, in contemporary culture. No prior knowledge of Deaf culture or ASL is required for this course.
ASL
301- (3) (IR)
Conversational
American Sign Language
Prerequisite: ASL
202 or successful completion of placement interview.
Continues language
and cultural instruction with emphasis on everyday conversation. Topics include
common idioms and slang, explaining rules, discussing finances and major decisions,
and storytelling techniques (such as role-shifting and narrative structure).
Students will be required to interact with Deaf signers.
ASL 309- (3) (IR)
Introduction to ASL Linguistics
No prerequisite. Open to students with no knowledge of ASL.
This course is an introduction to the linguistic structure of American Sign Language. An overview of the syntax, phonology, morphology, and semantics of ASL will be the basis for our study during the semester. We will look at word order in ASL (which is primarily discourse-oriented) and the interaction of semantics and syntax. Phonology in ASL is modality-dependent, but yet, it corresponds to phonologically abstract concepts that we see in spoken languages. A primary aspect of morphology in ASL is verb agreement, which has a unique manifestation in sign languages. We will also cover some sociolinguistic aspects of ASL, especially with respect to variation in ASL signs. No prior knowledge of ASL is required. Any previous Linguistics course is recommended but not mandatory.
ASL 475 - (3) (IR)
Topics in Deaf Studies
No prerequisite. Open to students with no knowledge of ASL.
Examines such topics as American Deaf history; ASL linguistics; Deaf education; cultural versus pathological views of deaf people; controversies over efforts to eliminate sign language and cure deafness (eugenics, oralism, cochlear implants, and genetic engineering); ASL poetry and storytelling; deafness in mainstream literature, film, and drama; deafness and other minority identities; and the international Deaf community. The class is taught in English with an interpreter; no prior knowledge of ASL or the Deaf community is required.
ASL 481 - (3) (IR)
Deafness in Literature and Film (Cross-listed as ENSP 481)
No prerequisite. Open to students with no knowledge of ASL.
What does deafness signify, especially in a western civilization centered upon speech? In this course we will study some of the contradictory and telling ways that deaf people have been depicted over the last three centuries. Our approach will be contrapuntal; canonical texts or mainstream films will be juxtaposed with relatively unknown works by deaf artists. We will read fiction, short and long, by authors like Defoe, de Musset, Turgenev, Melville, Maupassant, Twain, Bierce, McCullers, Welty, O'Connor, and Thon, along with prose by such deaf writers as Laurent Clerc, Adele Jewel, Bernard Bragg, and Sotonwa Opeoluwa. We will also view films like Johnny Belinda, Immortal Beloved, and Beyond Silence; documentaries such as Sound and Fury and Through Deaf Eyes; and movies by deaf filmmakers like Charles Krauel. Finally, we will explore selected poetry, drama, and storytelling in American Sign Language (in translation) by deaf performers. No prerequisite. Requirements will include participation, team-teaching exercises, a short paper, a longer paper, and a final exam.