Courses
ASL 1010, 1020 - (4) (Y)
Elementary American Sign Language
Prerequisite for ASL 1020: ASL 1010 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 2010, 2020 - (3) (Y)
Intermediate American Sign Language
Prerequisite for ASL 2010: ASL 1020 or successful completion of placement interview.
Prerequisite for ASL 2020: ASL 2010 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 2300 - (3) (IR)
Women and Gender in the Deaf World (Cross-listed as SWAG 2300)
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 2450 - (3) (IR)
Deaf People, Society, and the Law
No prerequisite. Open to students with no knowledge of ASL.
This course will explore the Deaf community, discrimination, and laws affecting Deaf people in the United States. We will consider the experiences of Deaf people before and after such measures as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 to gain insight into how the law affects social perceptions and people's everyday lives. No prior knowledge of ASL or Deaf culture is required for this course.
ASL 3010 - (3) (Y)
Conversational American Sign Language
Prerequisite: ASL 2020 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 3559 - (3) (IR) (New in spring 2012)
History of the American Deaf Community
No prerequisite. Open to students with no knowledge of ASL.
This new course will examine the history of deaf people in the United States over the last three centuries, with particular attention to the emergence and evolution of a community of Deaf people who share a distinct sign language and culture. We will read both primary texts from specific periods (by writers like Laurent Clerc and Alexander Graham Bell) and secondary sources (such as Douglas Baynton's Forbidden Signs and Carol Padden and Tom Humphries’ Inside Deaf Culture). We will also view a few historical films. Among other topics, we will consider how hearing society has treated deaf people and the reasons for this treatment; how deaf people have explained and advocated for themselves; how the deaf community complicates our understanding of linguistic and ethnic minorities and of disabled people in the United States; the impact of technology; and what changing constructions of deafness reveal about the history of American culture in general. Requirements will include two papers, one midterm exam, one final exam, and active participation. The class will be taught in English with an interpreter. It has no prerequisite, although previous coursework in History or American Sign Language is recommended.
History majors may count this class for major credit. To do so, they should contact Professor Herbert Braun (hb3r@Virginia.EDU), Director of Undergraduate Studies in the History Department, before the drop deadline.
ASL 4750 - (3) (IR)
Topics in Deaf Studies
No prerequisite. Open to students with no knowledge of ASL.
An advanced seminar that examines such topics as American deaf education; American Sign Language linguistics; ASL poetry and storytelling; deaf history; cultural versus pathological views of deaf people; controversies over efforts to cure deafness (eugenics, oralism, cochlear implants, and genetic engineering); deafness and other minority identities; interpreting and cross-cultural communication; 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 4810 - (3) (IR)
Deafness in Literature and Film (Cross-listed as ENSP 4810)
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 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.