The emergence of Deaf Studies programs at colleges and universities and the broadened knowledge of social sciences (including but not limited to Deaf History, Deaf Culture, Signed Languages, Deaf Bilingual Education, Deaf Art, and more) have served to expand the activities of research, teaching, analysis, and curriculum development. The field has experienced a major shift due to increasing awareness of Deaf Studies research since the mid-1960s. The field has been further influenced by the Deaf community's movement, resistance, activism and politics worldwide, as well as the impact of technological advances, such as in communications, with cell phones, computers, and other devices. A major goal of this new encyclopedia is to shift focus away from the "Medical/Pathological Model" that would view Deaf individuals as needing to be "fixed" in order to correct hearing and speaking deficiencies for the sole purpose of assimilating into mainstream society. By contrast, The Deaf Studies Encyclopedia seeks to carve out a new and critical perspective on Deaf Studies with the focus that the Deaf are not a people with a disability to be treated and "cured" medically, but rather, are members of a distinct cultural group with a distinct and vibrant community and way of being.

Author Biography

Dr. Genie Gertz is currently the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. An internationally recognized scholar and active political figure in the advancement of sign languages and Deaf people, Dr. Gertz has been responsible for numerous cultural and educational programs aimed to enlighten both deaf and hearing individuals alike to bridge gaps of inequality. Dr. Gertz has served on the governing boards of Deaf Women United and the National Association for the Deaf, as well as been involved in the Deaf community in a variety of ways. Through her teaching, critical discourse and activism, she has been influential in shaping the minds of many individuals with the overarching goal of cultural competence. After having graduated from Gallaudet University, Dr. Gertz went on to pursue her M.A. degree in Human Resources Management/Organizational Development in Higher Education from New York University, and a Ph.D. from University of California, Los Angeles in Cultural Studies with a concentration in Racial/Ethnic Studies. Her involvement in the field of Deaf Studies has spanned over 20 years. Prior to assuming her current position at Gallaudet, Dr. Gertz served as the Dean of the Deaf Studies Division at Ohlone College in Fremont, California in which she oversaw a wide spectrum of programs. She began her career in Deaf Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where she played an invaluable role in fostering the growth of the Deaf Studies program, which is now one of the largest Deaf Studies programs in the nation. It was during her tenure at CSUN that Dr. Gertz became involved with the vision for The SAGE Deaf Studies Encyclopedia that comes to fruition with the publication of this volume. Dr. Gertz's scholarly interests range from exploring the social, cultural, linguistic, and educational features that weaken Deaf individuals' development of Deaf consciousness that affect the formation of solid identities, to Deaf Critical Race Theory (Deaf Crits), which connects theory to the lives of Deaf people by looking at Deaf experiences from the social construction framework informed by Critical Race Theory. In her dissertation research, she coined the term dysconscious audism, illustrating how a Deaf individual's consciousness and therefore identity formation is hampered by varying factors; this concept has become a mainstay within the field of Deaf Studies. With an eye toward multicultural and intersectional analysis, Dr. Gertz was also instrumental in establishing and incorporating Deaf Women's Studies within the Deaf Studies curriculum during her time at CSUN. The establishment of Deaf Women's Studies is but one avenue through which she has promoted comprehensive and multidimensional analysis within the field writ large. Born Deaf to hearing parents, Dr. Gertz emigrated to the United States from St. Petersburg, Russia when she was eight years old. As a fluent user of American Sign Language, Russian Sign Language, Russian and English, her upbringing deeply instilled in her the values of diversity in language and culture, which she continues to cherish. Dr. Patrick Boudreault is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., where he oversees the Master's in Sign Language Education program. Hailing from Quebec City, Canada, he is a native user of Langue des Signes Quebecoise and is fluent in American Sign Language, English and French. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Manitoba at Winnipeg, a M.Sc. degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from McGill University, and a B.A. degree in Linguistics from Universite du Quebec a Montreal. He has been involved in the field of sign language teaching and Deaf Studies for more than 20 years in both Canada and the United States. Prior to joining the faculty at Gallaudet University, Dr. Boudreault was an Assistant Professor at California State University, Northridge, where he played an instrumental role in the exponential growth of one most venerable Deaf Studies programs in the United States. Dr. Boudreault has collaborated with researchers across North America on a variety of research topics related to the Deaf community and sign language. Since 2005, he has collaborated with Dr. Christina Palmer of University of California, Los Angeles. Together, they have received substantial funding from the National Institutes of Health for Deaf Genetics Projects to investigate the impact of genetic testing and genetic counseling for the deaf genes, Connexin 26 and 30, on the Deaf community in California. He and Dr. Palmer also seek to increase the Deaf community's access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health literacy materials in both ASL and English. More broadly, Dr. Boudreault's primary areas of interest revolve around the topics of sign language translation and interpreting, mapping sign language acquisition, developing and designing sign language assessment tools, and most recently, examining sign languages as heritage languages. At the heart of his research lies his passion for the preservation and embrace of sign language diversity with an aim toward promoting its social and academic currency. His work, academic and otherwise, is grounded in advocating for sign language as the most accessible and natural means of communication for the Deaf community.