UPDATED: April 18, 2013, 1:49 a.m.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the details regarding changes in American Sign Language courses was misstated. ASL courses had not officially been approved as new courses until the University Senate meeting Wednesday. The School of Education is still the only college at Syracuse University that officially accepts ASL as a four-credit elective. Faculty also are not being hired for ASL courses at the moment. The article has been updated to reflect these changes. The Daily Orange regrets these errors. 

The School of Education and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics are working together to determine the best way to offer credible courses in American Sign Language to Syracuse University students. 

Currently, SU officials are deciding what steps they need to take to allow these courses to fulfill the language requirement, said Gail Bulman, chair of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics.

“At this point, American Sign Language cannot be used to fulfill the liberal arts core for the College of Arts and Sciences language skills requirement,” Bulman said.

But the University Senate approved new ASL courses that will count as four-credit courses instead of three-credit courses at its Wednesday meeting. As of now, the courses are considered humanities electives, Bulman said. She added that the courses will begin in fall 2013 under the prefix “ASL,” starting with level 101.

“This is a very exciting first step because we are hoping that we can really generate some interest and generate some solid scholarship around American Sign Language,” Bulman said.

Wendy Harbour, a professor of inclusive education, has been working with School of Education officials to create an acceptable curriculum that ensures these classes are language courses that emphasize reading, writing, speaking, listening and a cultural component. These qualities are present in all of the foreign language courses, Bulman said.

The ASL courses will still need to be evaluated to determine whether they will fulfill the foreign language requirement. Students will be able to take these courses and learn ASL, Bulman said, but as of right now, they will only count as an elective credit.

Harbour said she always wanted SU to offer ASL classes in line with standardized national curriculum. She said she wants to be able to offer ASL classes that are equivalent to other universities, but understands it is a long process.

“It’s too new. I understand that foreign language (department) wants to wait and make sure that classes are equivalent to the classes offered as other foreign languages,” she said.

To establish the curriculum, Harbour said she worked with the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, other SU colleges and various universities.

ASL classes are like other language classes in which students don’t just learn the language, but also the culture, she said.

Students taking the classes will learn about the deaf culture, history, norms for communicating, stories and jokes. They will also go into the city and meet deaf people. This is a great way to connect SU with Syracuse’s deaf community, Harbour said.

There are still many aspects of these courses that need to be determined, said Bulman, chair of the language department. She added that administrators still need to make many decisions, such as who will teach and oversee the courses, and how they will be evaluated.

Officials from the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education will make these decisions, Bulman said.

Learning ASL will allow students to better interact with people with disabilities, especially those who want to work with the deaf, Harbour said.

“Many people say that SU is the ‘Harvard of disability.’ We have this long history of being very cutting edge and very active in disability rights and in disability studies and inclusion,” Harbour said. “And it makes sense for us to offer great ASL classes because it continues this idea of really being active in disability.”

Published on April 15, 2013 at 12:12 am

Contact Melina: mrmart06@syr.edu