A sign of the times: the importance of ASL being integrated into the USD curriculum

A sign of the times: the importance of ASL being integrated into the USD curriculum

Brittany Lang / Feature Editor / The USD Vista

Rising senior Serena Stockton, a hard-of-hearing student, is one of the passionate individuals at USD who has joined the movement to change the university’s views on American Sign Language (ASL). She wants the university to recognize ASL as an official foreign language and adopt a new curriculum that will be inclusive to hard-of-hearing and Deaf students on campus, as well as those who have a desire to explore disability studies. Stockton believes this is a necessary step USD must take in order to meet the high standard the university claims to hold itself to, which is one that welcomes and encourages diversity within its student body. 

As a first year, Stockton was extremely disheartened when she came to the realization that she was not going to be able to pursue ASL at USD, after already being denied the opportunity at the high school level. 
During her first year, she considered registering to take ASL courses at another institution. However at the time, USD did also not consider it as a language to be transferable as credit.

“I was told by countless faculty members that ASL was not really a language because it was not spoken, lacked culture, was too hard to test, and it did not have grammar,” Stockton explained. 

She said these comments from the university only highlighted the ignorance and very limited knowledge many have towards the Deaf community, stating that they do in fact have a very rich and detailed history, unbeknown to some of the USD faculty.

“I have always wanted to gain a deeper connection with those in my community and the Deaf community, but in order to fully do so, I myself need to be fluent in ASL,” Stockton said. 

It should be understood that Deaf culture is a powerful testimony to the profound needs and possibilities of human beings, built from striving to make sense of their place in this world. Passed on and endured through generations of transmission, Deaf signers have fashioned their own signed language so rich and precise, that even intricate storytelling and poetry are possible. 

Members of the Deaf community continue to be oppressed and excluded by a disturbing lack of equal access, particularly through a dearth of interpreters in the workplace and institutions, highlighting that audism continues to be a serious issue in the United States. Deaf students, and those who are dedicated to ameliorating the living conditions for individuals with disabilities, strive for there to be equal opportunity in the work sector, social settings, and to be accorded basic human rights. 

Senior Maddy Bass, another USD student who is dedicated to advocating for ASL, was present in multiple meetings in the fall of 2018 with Stockton and a few others students, faculty members, and department deans. In one particular meeting with the language department, the students presented their thoughts on why ASL needs to be eligible for transfer credit for the language requirement or an addition to the curriculum.

“In response, we received a lot of blank stares that seemed uninterested,” Stockton said. “In fact, one faculty member even raised his hand to question our thoughts about braille, completely changing the subject.”

USD prides itself in being a campus that upholds its core values of academic excellence, community, compassionate service, knowledge, and ethical conduct and, above all else, being a changemaker campus. However, with their refusal to become more accessible and welcoming to students who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing by not offering courses in ASL and more broadly disability culture, Stockton believes they are actively going against their academic mission. 

Stockton is just one of the many students who have had reservations with the areas of studies offered to students at USD due to a lack of diversity and representation. However, like other driven and impassioned students who have fought for academic change, their efforts have not been futile.

USD finally accepted ASL to be transferable as credits for the language requirement officially last Spring, a considerable step in the right direction. Nevertheless, Stockton emphasized how there is still so much work to be done in the fight against audism, especially surrounding representation and academic exploration for the Deaf community and those passionate about the cause. 

“My hopes for USD’s future is that we start to diversify our course options by incorporating courses like introduction to Deaf culture and history, an ASL program on campus, or a disability studies major or minor,” Stockton added. 

She believes that USD has a crucial responsibility to make its curriculum accommodating and accessible to all students on campus. The university continuously proves that it is capable of positive and profound change in terms of diversification and inclusion. After all, one of the only constants that we can be absolutely certain of is change, and impassioned students like Stockton are to credit for much of the remarkable progress that has and continues to be made at USD.