These are courses required for the World Language Requirement and the Minor in ASL and Deaf Culture. As a small program, our course offerings are limited, and our elective courses are not offered every semester (check with the program director or a faculty member regarding current elective course offerings). Generally, our first and third-semester language courses are taught in the fall semester and our second and fourth-semester language courses are taught in the spring semester. Our limited offerings can be an impediment to satisfying the language or minor requirements should you not pass the threshold for continuing with the language course progression or if you are considering studying abroad a semester as you’ll have to wait a full year before retaking or continuing your ASL courses. At this time, we do not offer any summer courses.
ASL Program Language Courses
Our language courses are all taught (from day one) without voice, communicating only through signs, gestures, and class materials.
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ASL 1010 and 1020: Elementary ASL I and II (4 Credits ?)
Elementary American Sign Language
Introduces receptive and expressive ASL skills, including fingerspelling, numbers, basic vocabulary, sentence structure, facial grammar and non-manual type indicators, use of space, classifiers, and basic storytelling and conversational skills. We examine Deaf culture and Deaf people as a linguistic and cultural minority.
Prerequisite for ASL 1020: ASL 1010 or successful completion of placement interview.
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ASL 2010 and 2020: Intermediate ASL I and II (4 Credits)
Continues learning in American Sign Language, with the introduction of more vocabulary and a focus on more complex sentence types, classifier usage, idioms, storytelling, and relating of events. We may consider ASL literary forms such as poetry, theater, and storytelling, as well as Deaf history, culture, and other related topics through our class reading projects.
Prerequisite for ASL 2010: ASL 1020 or successful completion of placement interview.
Prerequisite for ASL 2020: ASL 2010 or successful completion of placement interview.
Completion of ASL 2020 satisfies the College of Arts and Sciences World Language Requirement
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ASL Program Elective Courses
Our elective courses can count towards the Minor in ASL and Deaf Culture or towards other College and school requirements (e.g., History or WGS requirements). See your Advisor or the ASL Program Director if you have questions. Our elective courses are generally accessible to all students through either voicing or interpreting being provided (as not everyone in the class will have the required knowledge of ASL).
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ASL 3015: Language House Conversation in ASL (1 Credits)
This one-hour credit is available to students participating in the Shea Language House ASL community who satisfy the participation requirements. One credit per semester can be earned with a maximum of two credits/semesters. See the ASL Program Director if you think you might be interested in the Shea Language House program.
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ASL 3020: ASL Narratives (3 Credits)
Details coming soon
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ASL 3410: Contemporary Disability Theory (3 Credits)
Christopher Krentz
MW 2-3:15 p.m.
Over the last several decades, thinking about people with physical, cognitive, and sensory differences has moved from a mostly pathological medical-based understanding to a more rights-based framework, although both models persist and overlap. In this course we will consider how conceptions of disability have (or have not) changed, considering such matters as how a disability is defined; disability in American history; autism and neurodivergence; deaf culture and medical interventions; disability and race, gender, class, and sexual orientation; and much more. The class will also consider how these theories relate to the depiction of disabled people in literature and film. Possible texts include Goffman’s Stigma; Wells’ “The Country of the Blind”; Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians; Desai’s Fasting, Feasting; Nussbaum’s Good Kings, Bad Kings; and the films Unrest and Crip Camp.
The class will feature a range of learning strategies, from whole-class discussion to smaller-group discussion to short lectures. Requirements will include two papers, quizzes, and active informed participation.
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ASL 3460: Deaf Studies in the Global South (3 Credits)
Details coming soon
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ASL 4750: Contemporary Deaf Studies (3 Credits)
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; ASL poetry and storytelling; deafness in mainstream literature, film, and drama; deafness and other minority identities; and the international deaf community.
No prior knowledge of Deaf culture or ASL is required for this course.
Required for the Minor in ASL and Deaf Culture
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