Deaf Culture And Sign Language

In this course, students will explore the socio-cultural world of deafness and the history and use of sign language. The topics covered include the similarities between sign language and speech, the structure of signs, variation in sign languages in the world and the acquisition of sign language by both hearing and deaf children. Students will also examine the issue of identity within the deaf culture from the perspective of children who grow up bilingual in both the hearing world and the deaf world.