why middlebury?
It is already an interest our students have.
The January-term ASL class, taught by Professor Alex Lynch, is always a popular choice for students. During J-term 2015, it had an extraordinary waiting list, of around 50 students. Adding ASL classes would allow for more of those students who were blocked out of the class to take an ASL class and would allow those who have taken the class to further their ASL education.
In addition, Middlebury’s ASL Club has a strong presence on campus. The club is full of passionate members who are interested in working to make this initiative a reality, and who are working to make ASL a strong presence on our campus. What the club has accomplished is extraordinary, and is only a fraction of what could be accomplished with faculty behind them!
We are at the forefront of language learning.
Middlebury is and has been at the forefront of language learning. As ASL became recognized as a language, schools across the country added ASL programs to their curriculum. Should Middlebury develop a strong ASL program, it would be the first of its caliber to have a program of this kind, and would serve as a model for other colleges and universities, as it has done in the past.
American Sign Language is a full language, just as are any of the other languages we offer, but it also distinguishes itself from any of the other languages we offer in that it is visual, rather than auditory. It provides an extraordinary opportunity for an exploration of language, linguistics, and communication that would add greatly to many of the programs Middlebury already has.
An ASL program also fits well with many of our existing programs and would allow for further exploration of each, in addition to an opportunity for more cross-disciplinary work. Some of the programs with which it fits particularly well are:
American Studies; Comparative Literature; Creative Writing; Education Studies; English & American Literatures; Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies; Theater; Dance; History; Linguistics; and Psychology.
Our summer language schools provide a unique opportunity.
Middlebury has a unique platform not available at other schools, our summer language schools, which allow us to provide language-learning opportunities to larger communities. If we add an ASL program to the summer language schools, this could be very beneficial both for Middlebury, as it widens its scope, as well for the new communities it is reaching who may not have considered the language schools previously. Some of these new communities would be:
Hospice workers
Parents of deaf or hard of hearing children
Parents who are interested in faster language aquisition for their hearing children
Speech pathologists
Family members of the newly hard of hearing elderly
Elderly people
Teachers
In-home workers
Early childcare workers
Deaf people
There are very few opportunities across the country to fully immerse yourself in an ASL learning environment to the extent that language schools would provide without actually being in a signing community.
We are dedicated to expanding our inclusivity and our diversity.
If Middlebury truly wants to expand their inclusivity and diversity, it is important to address this within our student body, within our body of professors, as well as in the subject matter we offer. ASL is a useful and common, but widely underrepresented, language. Adding an ASL program would diversify the subject matter we offer as well as who our professors are. In addition, it could make Middlebury a more welcoming environment for people who use sign language, would work to destigmatize ASL, and would draw in students with diverse interests.
When taking the extra step to sign with someone it opens us to new communities and new ways of thinking. In addition, committing yourself to communicate with someone else in their language rather than forcing them to adapt to yours is a commitment to being respectful and compassionate.
According to the Middlebury Language School Mission Statement, the language schools "are dedicated to the premise that without real competency in language there can be no true cultural understanding, and, that to be truly effective, language speaking must provide meaningful access to other cultures". Therefore, to truly understand and appreciate deaf culture and all it has to offer, it is important to take the first step: learn ASL.
There is not a lot of representation of disability on our campus, and it is important to increase this representation. In addition, ASL has historically not been respected as a language in its own right. We do not want to further that rhetoric.
It is good for the surrounding community.
It is important to bridge communities; the deaf and the hearing, the campus and the surrounding area, Middlebury and the nation. Adding an ASL program would create classes that community members would be able to audit and would create more events in which people in communities outside of Middlebury could participate. It would also be another way for Middlebury students to learn more about the world around them.
In addition, Vermont is an older state in its population. Elderly people commonly begin to lose their hearing, and learning ASL is an easy way for them to keep their independence and maintain connections with others.