MLL 333 - American Deaf Culture

Units: 4 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-D; Diversity

This course introduces American Deaf Culture and its roots from a social justice lens. The daily experiences of American Deaf people’s in mainstream society necessitated a system of strategies and coping in order to successfully navigate the hearing world.

Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Area C requirements; and completion of Elementary and Intermediate levels of ASL.
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better.
Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground, or Hybrid, or Online-Asynchronous, or Online-Synchronous.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-D - Upper Division Social Sciences, Overlay - Diversity
Course Typically Offered: Variable Intermittently

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

The course is designed to give the student an opportunity to understand the basic concepts of American Deaf Culture, to appreciate the culture of Deaf people and to understand social and cultural factors causing diversity in the Deaf community and in D/deaf identity choice. Aspects of culture explored include:
- Cultural aspects of teaching Deaf children.
- The definition of culture and the distinction between American Deaf Culture and mainstream culture.
- The definition of diversity and the distinction between diversity of Deaf people and diversity of the mainstream population.
- How diverse cultures and communities form, grow, change and interact. This includes Hispanic/ Latino Deaf, African American/Black Deaf, Native American/American Indian Deaf, Asian/Pacific Islander Deaf, as well as LGBT Deaf.
- The role of American Sign Language in Deaf culture.
- Cultural beliefs and values.
- Patterns of social interaction and group norms.
- Deaf identity and diversity.
- Conceptual and practical methods for deconstructing racism/audism and white supremacy/oppression.
- Multicultural perspectives on ethics, democratic citizenship and civic responsibility.
- Deaf folklore and Deaf literature and Deaf View Image Art - De’VIA.
- Traditions and innovations in the artistic expression of cultural differences.
- History, structures and effect of bias, prejudice, bigotry and discrimination.
- Approaches and obstacles to cross-cultural understanding
- Collision between culture and disability of the Deaf community.
- The power structure within the Deaf Community.
- The role of Deaf persons in the community and the role of the Deaf community and cultural contexts in scientific, technological, environmental and health study.

UD-D. Upper-division Social Sciences Learning Outcomes

analyze how power and social identity affect social outcomes for different cultural and economic groups using methods of social science inquiry and vocabulary appropriate to those methods;
demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply accurately disciplinary concepts of the social or behavioral sciences; and
demonstrate an understanding of and ability to effectively plan or conduct research using an appropriate method of the social or behavioral sciences.

Diversity Overlay Learning Outcomes

describe the histories and/or experiences of one or more U. S. cultural groups and the resilience and agency of group members;
identify structures of oppression and the diverse efforts and strategies used by groups to combat the effects of oppressive structures;
analyze the intersection of the categories of race and gender as they affect cultural group members’ lived realities and/or as they are embodied in personal and collective identities;
recognize the way that multiple differences (including, for example, gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability, immigration status, gender expression, color/phenotype, racial mixture, linguistic expression, and/or age) within cultural groups complicate individual and group identities.