Deaf Studies

Deaf Studies is an interdisciplinary field, incorporating content, critiques, and methodologies from anthropology, cultural studies, linguistics, history, philosophy, literature, art, film, media studies, architecture, psychology, human geography, policy, and human rights studies among others. Scholars have approached Deaf cultural formations and practices through these multiple perspectives for the purposes of preserving, exploring and celebrating Deaf Culture, as well as critiquing ideologies and categories that have developed around dominant constructions of “deafness.” Both trajectories—cultural exploration and critique of power structures—have served as powerful means of emancipation and empowerment for the Deaf community. For a minority field of study emerging from such a small percentage of the population, Deaf Studies’ critical impact is far-reaching, such as redefining the nature of language and therefore, literature, literacy, and popular ...