Where
This is an online event.Contact
Estelle TicktinEmerson College CSD
6178248303
estelle_ticktin@emerson.edu
Wednesday, March 17, 4pm EST
Film screening and discussion with the producers
Welcome remarks by Emerson President Lee Pelton
ASL interpretation provided
SIGNING BLACK in AMERICA is the first documentary about Black ASL: the unique dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) that developed within historically segregated African American Deaf communities.Black ASL today conveys an identity andsense ofbelonging that mirrors spoken language varieties of the African American hearing community. Different uses of space, hand use, directional movement, and facial expressionare ways that Black ASL distinguishes itself as a vibrant dialect of American Sign Language.
The African American Deaf community is now embracing their unique variety as a symbol of solidarity and a vital part of their identity.
The African American Deaf community is now embracing their unique variety as a symbol of solidarity and a vital part of their identity.
SIGNING BLACK in AMERICA began screening in 2020 and is the first episode of a four-part miniseries following the feature-length documentary TALKING BLACK in AMERICA (2017).
Screening, followed by panel
discussion with the producers:
Robert Bayley, Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Davis
Joseph Hill, Associate Professor, Department of American Sign Language and Interpreting Education, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology
Ceil Lucas, Professor Emerita, Gallaudet University
Carolyn McCaskill, Associate Professor, ASL and Deaf Studies Department, Gallaudet University