Silence and sign language characterized Northeastern Universitys annual event, A Deaf, Deaf World, on Oct. 10. This simulation, sponsored by the American Sign Language (ASL) Program at Northeastern, gave hearing students learning ASL the experience of interacting in a world where ASL is the dominant language. Students could wander around booths representing everyday activities in a typical town, like Chuck Bairds art supply, Helen Kellers Job Placement, Veditz College and a caf?.
Lecturer in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development Jim Lipsky, a member of the Deaf community who also teaches at Northeastern, led the program this year. Lipsky spoke with the Daily on the phone through a video relay service that allowed him to receive questions and relay answers while using sign language with an interpreter.
Lipsky, who has lectured on the Hill for 21 years, described the history of ASL at Tufts and the many trials faced by students who have yearned for more classes and an expansion of the program.
When I was teaching Level 1, typically [the classes] were full, and this was under the Child Development department, he said. They were very supportive of that, others werent, but it became very popular.
Since the lectures incorporate visual means, such as PowerPoint presentations, limited enrollment is crucial to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to learn the materials properly.
The programs introductory course, American Sign Language and the Deaf Community, is co-taught by Lipsky and Terrell Clark, who is also a lecturer in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development. Not only does the course give students the foundation of basic ASL, but it allows them to discover the rich history of the Deaf community and the culture surrounding it. In class, students learn about the legacies of members of the Deaf community, including Chuck Baird, Helen Keller, George Veditz and many others.
The Tufts program eventually expanded to include a second and third course. Throughout this time, students petitioned persistently so that ASL could be used to fulfill Tufts foreign language requirement. In May of this year, Tufts faculty approved a proposal that allowed ASL to fulfill Part I of the foreign language requirement.
In a response to the 2013 ASL Proposal, though, Chair of the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literatures Hosea Hirata and Chair of the Department of Romance Languages Jos? Antonio Mazzotti stressed that while ASL may satisfy Part I, it is an American language.
The primary reason for our opposition is that it is not a foreign language used by a foreign people. The second and equally important reason is because the proposal, perhaps unwittingly, interferes with our own departments mandate: to teach (modern) foreign languages and literatures/cultures, they wrote in their response.
Though ASL courses can now fulfill the first half of the requirement, there are few resources on campus for Tufts students who wish to continue their education past the third and final ASL course. Lipsky encourages students to get involved with the Boston Deaf community, as well as other programs at nearby universities, as a way to gain practical skills that reach beyond the classroom setting. He pointed out that there are opportunities at Gallaudet University a university specifically for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing located in Washington, D.C.
There is a great opportunity to learn and be immersed in the culture of the deaf, to understand and, of course, to use the language on a daily basis, Lipsky said. There were two students who went to Gallaudet University for a semester, and they really enjoyed it.
Even for new students, real-life ASL experience is not only possible but highly encouraged. Lauren Giglio, a junior who is currently in ASL 1, attended the simulation at Northeastern with only three classes worth of experience.
There were ... situations where an emergency announcement would be shown on the giant TV screen telling us to evacuate immediately for various reasons and to collect a specific item when evacuating, Giglio told the Daily in an email. If that item was not collected, you were not allowed to evacuate the pretend emergency. I think I died a few times.
Although Giglios ASL use may not have been perfect, she noted that Lipsky is very encouraging.
He is incredibly patient and has a way of communicating lessons to us with the aid of PowerPoints, book work and interactive partner/group work in class that helps us retain the vital signs we need to communicate thoughts in class, she said.
As an instructor in the ASL programs at both Tufts and Northeastern, Lipsky has connected hearing students to each other and the Deaf community in Boston. At A Deaf, Deaf World, Tom Lauterborn, one of Lipskys former students, interpreted for Lipsky during the event. Lauterborn has deaf grandparents, and his mother can also interpret ASL.
Ive been around ASL and the Deaf community for all of my life, pretty much, he said.
While Lauterborn was pre-med at Northeastern, he decided to take advantage of the schools notable ASL program as well. As a recent graduate, he was able to find a job as an interpreter at Northeastern.
At the event, Lauterborn noted the variety of clubs, including a group hidden among the others where students were actually allowed to speak: The Bravewood Club.
The Bravewoods were a family in England who taught deaf children mainly using the oral method, so they mainly tried to get them to speak and not use any sign language at all, he said.12
