From Julia DeVarti ’17:
Come join Sign House for our open conversation hour. This is a great
chance to hone your ASL skills and practice with other people who
sign! THERE WILL PROBABLY BE SNACKS!
Date: Wednesday, February 24
Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm
Place: Sign House (64 Lawn)
From Olivia Chavez ’15:
Born deaf and hilarious, Andrew Fisher has put his unique perspective to work as one of the most captivating comedians on the New York scene.
Though it may seem unexpected for all audiences to be able to enjoy jokes told in American Sign Language, Sean Kelly, editor of National Lampoon magazine and former writer for SNL, has lauded Andrew’s ability to take advantage of his disconnect with the audience. Through a combination of flawlessly physical comedy and expertly timed delivery, Andrew will make you rethink everything you think you know about what makes comedy work.
Sponsored by Sign Language House and Wesleyan Students for Disability Rights.
Date: Saturday, April 5 — today!
Time: 8-9 PM (also practically right now!)
Place: CFA Hall
What defines a true survivor? Is it her ability to survive the currents of the cyberwave? Or is it constructing your identity of being in time? More importantly, who are you wearing? Enough questions. Time for answers.
2.15/$5/eclectic
tickets being sold in usdan during lunch friday/tomorrow (2/14)
but also there’s paypal.
doors open 10 close 12
Date: Sat, Feb 15
Time: 10 p.m.- 2 a.m.
Place: Eclectic
Cost: $5
Theater expert and hat maker extraordinaire Emma MacLean ’14 is running an awesome student forum:
Come check out the student forum on signing and spatial cognition. This forum with break down into two parts: discussion based work at Wesleyan and service learning at MacDonough Elementary School. The classroom work will focus on the effects of sign language and spatial grammar on the brain. This will span deaf individuals who have lived essentially without language and then are introduced to signing later in life to hearing children who use sign to help them learn English. The service learning component will involve an hour of work in either a kindergarten or first grade classroom at MacDonough. We will be signing with the students to reinforce their reading vocabulary. Previous experience with American Sign Language is a plus but not mandatory. Come stop by Allbritton 304 Thursday September 5th from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM to find out more about this class. If you can’t make it but are interested in learning more about this forum contact Emma MacLean ’14 (emaclean[at]wesleyan[dot]edu) or Miranda Orbach ’15 (morbach[at]wesleyan[dot]edu).
Date: Tomorrow, Thursday, September 5
Time: 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Place: Allbritton 304
Want to practice enthusiastic consent without waking up your roommate? Holly Everett ’15 has got a sexy idea for you:
Good with your hands?
Sign Language House wants you to prove it. Come by the house Wednesday April 10th at 6 pm for a comprehensive lesson in ASL sex signs. We will cover words and phrases relating to sex, sexual arousal, protection, and body parts, as well as discuss issues around sexual education in the Deaf community.
No sign language background necessary.
Feel free to come early (5:30ish) for regular sign house conversation hour with ASL pro Karen Warren.
Date: Today, April 10th
Time: 5:30pm
Place: Sign House (64 Lawn)
Cost: 0
Interested in American Sign Language or deaf culture? You know what to do. More from Sam Melvin ’13:
Are you interested in ASL and/or Deaf culture? Education? Working with kids with special needs? Language and cognitive development? Sign up for this student forum! Issues in Deaf Education is a full credit student forum focusing on psychology, school choice, pedagogy, and policy in the field of education for deaf students. Come to the (mandatory) information session for more details!
Date: Thursday, January 24
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Place: Usdan 108
Facebook: Link
Mark Nakhla ’13, ASL music video superstar, released a beautiful new video to Coldplay’s “Charlie Brown” yesterday.
It is the latest addition to his growing repertoire of artistically-composed videos. You may remember his interpretations of Drake’s “Headlines” and Jay-Z and Kanye’s “No Church in the Wild,” both of which went viral and have over 20,000 and 40,000 plays respectively. His “No Church in the Wild” video was featured on the Huffington Post, which also covered the criticism it drew from other members of the ASL community. The new video clearly pushes in a different direction, most visibly featuring Nakhla in a solo performance.
Nakhla notes how the criticism surrounding his previous video influenced his newest one on YouTube:
Wesleyan junior Mark Nakhla ’13 picked up American Sign Language as a freshman. In the years since, Nakhla has spent a considerable amount of time and effort signing videos for the deaf and hard of hearing community, including Backstreet Boys’ “The Call,” Katy Perry’s “Fireworks,” and OneRepublic’s “Secrets”—basically your average WESU playlist. Most of the videos involve Nahkla, stationary, signing in front of an unchanging, domestic background. Until now.
The latest is an ASL interpretation of Drake’s “Headlines,” with help from Noah Korman ’14, Adam Keller ’14, and Greg Faxon ’14. Says video contributor/not-so-anonymous tipster Korman: “This video’s production and signing however have reached new heights.” He’s right: this is a tightly choreographed Drake-themed journey through the Butts tunnels and beyond. It’s already topped 400 views in one day and counting. Check it out here or embedded above.
The New York Times published an article today about a dramatic increase (16%) in students taking American Sign Language. After Spanish, French, and German, sign language ranks fourth in most popular languages on college campuses. And of course, like any good NYT Education article, it mentions Wesleyan. Specifically, Emily Brown ’12 speaks about her experience and fascination with A.S.L.:
Many students take aesthetic pleasure in sign language. Emily Brown, a sign-language student at Wesleyan University, talks excitedly about watching deaf poetry on YouTube, and “rhyming” words like “stars” and “socks,” whose signs share a hand shape and motion.
“I imagine myself painting pictures in the air,” said Ms. Brown, a junior majoring in English, and serving as an A.S.L. teaching assistant. “It feels more poetic than other languages. It’s such a great way to express things you can’t quite express verbally.”
Four sign language courses are being taught at Wesleyan this year (by Visting Instructor Sheila Mullen). There is the one-year beginner block similar to that available for Korean, Portugese, and Hindi as well as a second-year sequence featuring on current issues this semester and literacy skills next semester. Check out the courses here.
