SASLJ Unveiled Cripps
• Dr. Jody Cripps( Towson University)
• Mr. Ronald Fenicle( Towson University)
• Dr. Russell Rosen( CUNY- Staten Island)
• Mr. Harvey Nathanson( Austin Community College)
• Dr. Deirdre Schlehofer( Rochester Institute of Technology)
• Dr. Samuel Supalla( University of Arizona)
At this meeting, Dr. Supalla was voted President, myself as Vice President, Dr. Byrne as Secretary, and Mr. Nathanson as Treasurer.
Later in the afternoon, six scholars from the EC presented, beginning with Dr. Boudreault who discussed language preservation regarding Langue des signes québécoise( LSQ, also known as Quebec Sign Language, a signed language used in Quebec, Canada). He talked about LSQ and other signed languages which are declining in use among deaf people( see Dr. Boudreault’ s article covering a similar topic in SASL’ s newsletter( Fall 2016- issue 3)). The second presenter was Dr. Rosen who presented on the rapid growth of ASL classes in high schools, college and universities across the country( which is now published in this first issue of SASLJ). Dr. Supalla talked about a new perspective on reading development issues with deaf children who sign, and he is also published in this SASLJ.
The last three presenters focused on revisiting the performing arts. Dr. Byrne spoke on the importance of original literary works in ASL( also published in this issue). On the topic of ASL poetry analysis, Dr. Schlehofer investigated the interpretation of Clayton Valli’ s poem Snowflake and found that there have been misinterpretations from well-meaning scholars. As the final presenter of the evening, I talked about how music performances made by deaf signers are real and worthy of attention( published in this issue).
After the presentations, Dr. Boudreault led a town hall meeting with the panel and symposium participants. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions regarding the new SASL organization. At this time, the names of SASL’ s elected officers, EC members, and the date that SASL was recognized as an organization were announced. The EC is now called the Board of Directors. The SASL mission statement was also revealed at the town hall as follows:
The Society for American Sign Language( SASL) is a professional association with the credentials dedicated to basic and applied research about American Sign Language. SASL’ s goal is to validate and expand linguistic accessibility. Linguistic principles are emphasized for understanding the signed language along with its aesthetics and role in literacy development and learning. SASL’ s scope and forum includes theory, policy, and practice considerations, as well as addressing how an alternative language modality fulfills the needs and well-being of all citizens in society.
Creating a Journal
A few months after the symposium, I resigned my position as Vice President of SASL and accepted the role of Editor-in-Chief for SASLJ. Dr. Schlehofer is now the Vice President for SASL. In order to create this journal, I reached out to six symposium presenters, inviting them to write manuscripts for the first issue. Four presenters( including myself) were able to complete and submit manuscripts for review and publication. One of the symposium participants was
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