Schedule
- Session 2 (July 7 - 25, 2025)
- Synchronous time: Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET
- Monday through Thursday is ASL instruction, in ASL
- Friday is deaf culture topics discussion, in English
Description
The American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf Culture Online Seminar introduces ASL and gives an overview of topics integral to experiences of American Deaf community members. The seminar will feature light ASL instruction in an immersion environment where students will learn basic conversation and narrative skills. The seminar will also feature a weekly seminar in which we discuss experiences and perspectives of Deaf community members as demonstrated through online publications (vlogs), lectures, and a panel of Deaf community professionals in related fields.
Expected learning outcomes
- Share personal information including hometown, language background(s), how one gets from location to location via transportation, and interests/hobbies
- Discuss and describe locations within a building and give directions within a building using perspective shift and directional vocabulary
- Express wants/needs and ask/tell where to obtain those wants/needs
- Students will also gain awareness of cultural values and topics important to Deaf community members to better understand and connect with Deaf community members in current and future interactions
- ASL and Deaf Culture Online Seminar is comprised of both American Sign Language and ASL/Deaf culture and community instruction and learning. Both synchronous and asynchronous learning will be used in this course. A reminder that no spoken English is used during the ASL instructional times.
Program Director: Jami Fisher
Jami Fisher is the American Sign Language Program Director and a senior lecturer in foreign languages in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, a position she has held since 2005. She is a native ASL user and CODA (child of Deaf adults), born and raised in Philadelphia. She has a BA in English and education from Colby College, an MSEd in education, culture, and society and an EdD in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Jami’s current academic interests include finding ways to integrate meaningful, collaborative, community-based activities into ASL and Deaf studies coursework as well as documenting and analyzing the Philadelphia variety of American Sign Language.
