The Deafhood Movement

This presentation examines the structural oppression and self-actualization of Sign Language Peoples through the analytical lens of colonial
About this Event

This talk looks at how Deaf people have been oppressed and how they've fought to define themselves, through the lens of colonial theory.

It will be informative for anyone who wants to know more about the concept of Deafhood, or anyone interested in the treatment of and resistance of colonized peoples, and how this relates to Sign Language People (Deaf communities).

Instead of looking at Deaf people through medical or disability frameworks, this talk is framed by the idea of "Deafhood" (Ladd, 2003). Deafhood says that the history of suppressing sign languages is not just a medical issue, but is a form of cultural colonization, particularly when the focus is on forcing Deaf people to speak and lip-read instead ("oralism").

This talk compares the Deafhood movement to ideas from postcolonial theory and settler colonial theory (frameworks used to understand how colonized peoples have been treated and how they resist).

It asks: In what ways is the Deaf experience similar to other colonized groups? In what ways is it different, requiring its own understanding?

In the end, the Deafhood movement asks us to rethink how we define and study decolonization itself.

This presentation will be presented in spoken English. ASL Interpretation will be provided.

Dr. Judith L Bishop is Associate Professor and Alice Andrews Quigley Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Mills College of Northeastern University. She has been involved with the Deaf community for over twenty-five years. For several years, Dr. Bishop lived and worked along the Texas–Mexico border, collaborating with a dedicated team of four Deaf individuals and one CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) to provide essential outreach and vocational training for undocumented Deaf youth. She also served as a chaplain for the World Games for the Deaf (Deaflympics) in Los Angeles. Dr. Bishop has earned interpreter credentials from BEI, NAD and RID (IC,TC) and throughout graduate school interpreted for Deaf graduate students, mostly in law schools and doctoral programs in the Bay Area.