Deaf History Notes
Supplemental Files
The Attendance and Participation Form was developed by Brian Cerney in the 1990s to provide a more fair distribution of grades based on the course syllabus requirement of "Attendance and Participation". Prior to having this form, it was typical that instructors would simply award the maximum number of points for people who showed up for most of the classes and/or had written or verbal excuses for missed sessions.
By defining the expectations of exemplary student behavior, the Attendance and Participation form provides a mechanism for rewarding truly excellent student behaviors. This form may be freely used for any course without requesting permission as long as the author of the form is identified within the form itself.
The sample course syllabus for "History of the Deaf Community" was developed by Brian Cerney in the 1990s to provide an intensive investigation of the Deaf community.
The course was designed to be offered at the same time as ASL 1, but
through a different instructor. Ideally, the ASL 1 course would be
taught by a Deaf instructor while the Deaf History course is taught by
a Hearing instructor. This allows students to have regular interaction between both a native
and a non-native user of ASL during the same time frame. The logic of
having a non-native, hearing instructor is that it allows students to
ask questions that they might be embarrased to ask directly to a Deaf
person, particularly since they have yet to understand the cultural
value of directness within the Deaf community. A Hearing instructor
can also serve as a guide and provide helpful hints and clarifications
for students who are struggling with understanding everything that
happens in the ASL 1 class. Additionally, the course provides an opportunity to sell the ASL / Interpreting program to beginning students, particularly in the last Unit of the text which covers the Interpreting field.
This course establishes high expectations for rapid student learning. It uses significant amounts of reading, group discussions, quizzes on lecture content and on readings, reaction papers to readings and to videos, direct observation of a Deaf Community event, and the regular, daily use of multiple videotapes (or portions of videotapes) to expose the students to numerous people and perspectives within the Deaf community. The overall goal is to allow students to understand Deaf people as a self-empowered, yet frequently oppressed social group. A group that does not need pity, nor significant "help" from others.
This course outline is offered as a suggested way to incorporate the Deaf History Notes as they were originally intended: Lecture Notes that tie a variety of readings, videos, and discussions into a single cohesive exposure to the Deaf Community.
