Texts Without Words: American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL), used in the United States and English-speaking Canada, is a visual language without standardized means of writing. What, then, does it mean to create ASL “texts?” This week-long camp, designed for kids 8-11 years old, will explore deaf people’s contributions to and characterizations in the following kinds of texts: screen (e.g., TV’s Switched at Birth), music (e.g., Frozen’s “Let It Go” and Pharrell William’s “Happy”), visual art (e.g., Deaf View/Image Art, or De’VIA), poetry (e.g., ABC Stories and “Flying Words Project”), and, of course, books (both fiction and nonfiction). Campers will examine the place of these various ASL texts within the more familiar “oral” folklore canon. They will also be exposed daily to a healthy dose of conversational ASL through games, crafts, and other fun activities.

JY15-L5