The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/asl/)
Sponsored by the Department of Linguistics, the ASL Literature Series has invited five storytellers and poets to Cornell since its inception on Oct. 12, with Simmons being the sixth and final guest.
Taking ASL has opened a whole new world of rich culture and community for me that I had previously never even known existed. I have been able to take part in several opportunities outside the classroom as well, enabling me to use my language skills in a real-world setting. These opportunities include attending several ASL lecture series events, enjoying a Deaf comedian’s stand-up routine and watching famous Deaf poets take the stage in various Cornell auditoriums.
Cornell will roll out some of its first American Sign language courses — to be taught by newly-hired Prof. Brenda Schertz, American Sign Language at the University of Rochester — in fall 2019.
“I think it’s been a really long journey for all of us,” founding member of Cornell University Deaf Awareness Project Jackie Rachaf ’14 told The Sun.
Pepinsky explained that the committee’s new recommendations did make some “compromises” in an effort not to “disproportionately burden” students with heavy course loads.
“If more people on campus were exposed to ASL, [a deaf individual] would feel more welcome here and less of an outsider,” Remi said.