4th Biennial Deaf Studies Today! Conference
Utah Valley University
April 8, 9 and 10, 2010
The Deaf Studies Today! Conference is a professional, academic conference that brings together the brightest minds and latest thinking within the interdisciplinary field of Deaf Studies. The theme for this year’s conference is “Engaging Theory and Action”, encouraging the furtherance of Deaf theory and its application in a variety of disciplines.
Deaf Studies Today! is now established as the primary site for the exchange of information and thinking for anyone interested in Deaf Studies. The conference has also become an important cultural “place” where Deaf people gather to create, renew and maintain relationships. Similarly, the conference has gained a reputation for Deaf art in many forms including, paint, poetry, storytelling, plays, films, and more. We will expand this reputation this year with the integration of Deaf Film Festival into the program.
This conference is unique in that it makes a concerted effort to combine the conference activities with a variety of concurrent events such as the expo, entertainment, kids-only
storytelling sessions, etc. Participants in these events included members of the local Deaf community, students of ASL, Deaf Studies, Interpreting, etc. as well as parents of deaf children, educators, and other interested parties. Admission for parents of deaf children and for UVU students is free.
We are very excited to have three excellent keynote speakers lined up for 2010: Dr. Genie Gertz, Mr. John Bosco Conoma, and Dr. Dirksen Bauman.
In addition to the three keynote addresses, the conference will feature the presentation of approximately thirty academic papers. All of the papers and keynote addresses will be bound into conference proceedings and the keynotes will be made available on DVD to be sold separately from the conference proceedings. The conference also includes workshops on a variety of topics, a panel discussion, a literary event, a tribute, and a closing performance.
