April 19, 2012
Class on a Tuesday night? This is reality for 28 students who are part of Education 230, Sign Language and Deaf Culture II this Spring semester. Part of the Education Department, the course focuses on deaf culture while helping students build the skills to become proficient in sign language. A unique aspect of the Hamilton curriculum, students eagerly sign up for the over-enrolled class, which has two sessions, one from 5 to 8 P.M. and one from 6 to 9 P.M., allowing for an hour of small group work.
Sign Language and Deaf Culture I, an introductory course offered in the fall, and II, an advanced course offered in the spring, are both taught by Professor Victoria Allen. Her classes are offered in the evening due to her busy schedule teaching at the New York State School for the Deaf in Rome, NY. She implemented the math/science enrichment program there and also contributes to the creative and performing arts program.
Additionally, she teaches sign language at Utica College, and in her limited free time, her skills have also allowed her to serve as a sign language interpreter across the Mohawk Valley. Professor Allen has also been nominated for the Student Assembly’s Sidney Wertimer Teaching Award, one of the highest honors given to professors at Hamilton.
A student raved, “Professor Allen is the most patient, optimistic, friendly, caring, comical professor I have had here, and as a senior I have had a fair share of great professors. She is to be commended not only for her academic excellence but also for striving to bring together the deaf and hearing communities. We often separate ourselves from the deaf because of the communication barrier and because they seem ‘different’ from us, and she has taught all of us to move beyond our prejudices and embrace them.”
Sophomore Tara Huggins praised her professor, saying she is “one of the most devoted people I have ever met and one of the most passionate teachers. She has a desire for students to learn sign language and deaf culture.”
The class is comprised of a number of components including hands-on projects that aid in learning sign language. Each semester, students have made music videos in sign language to popular songs. The class also stresses presentations and both receptive and expressive quizzes that test a variety of different vocabulary.
Sign Language and Deaf Culture also gives students the opportunity to visit the Rome School for the Deaf for hands-on learning. Students’ deaf buddies also visit Hamilton creating a popular exchange program that has been active for over nine years.
“We always love getting a tour and learning about the Rome School and our deaf buddies love the options of the food at Commons,” said Huggins.
Interacting face-to-face with hearing-challenged people is one of the most beneficial ways for Hamilton students to learn sign language and the program has proved to be extremely valuable. Members of the class are also required to go off campus for certain “sign encounters,” which Huggins explained can be “anything from an interpreted show or a dinner at Panera for specific nights when many deaf individuals [in the local community] meet to sign.”
She described her favorite part of the class as “Vicky’s passion for sign language and the breakdown of barriers for those differently-abled.” She hopes to one day be able to fluently communicate with such people in sign.
Interpreting in the future is not unrealistic for Sign Language and Deaf Culture students. They have the opportunity to take the First Level Interpreting Exam at the end of the year. Huggins said, “I know many of the students in my class are interested in teaching or foreign languages and see this as a direct correlation to their future.”
Professor Allen’s Sign Language and Deaf Culture classes offer a great deal to the Hamilton curriculum, and they will surely continue to thrive and contribute to the greater community.