Word for Word Exchange: American Sign Language
Columbia University School of the Arts & Gallaudet University, 2014
In the spring of 2014, two School of the Arts Writing Program students participated in a translation exchange in American Sign Language with two students from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC—the foremost institution of higher learning in the United States specifically serving deaf and hard of hearing students. The collaboration began in February with a translation workshop and campus visit at Gallaudet, and concluded in April with a workshop on the Columbia campus; between the introductory and concluding workshop, students worked collaboratively on their translations of each other’s work.
The day-long workshop that concluded the exchange was led by Gallaudet professor Tyrone Giordano, actor and ASL translator Alexandria Wailes, and LTAC Director Susan Bernofsky. This workshop provided an opportunity for the students to identify and discuss the particular challenges posed by ASL/English translation, and included a hands-on exercise involving an excerpt from Frank Wedekind’s play Spring Awakening, which participants translated (using an older English translation as guide, along with a glossed version of the original German text) into ASL and English with the workshop leaders’ guidance.
Columbia University School of the Arts Participants:
SARA NOVIC grew up in Boston, Doylestown, Philadelphia, and Zagreb, Croatia, and now lives in New York. She teaches writing at Columbia University and FIT. Her first novel, Girl at War, was published in 2015 by Random House.
CATHERINE KIRCH is a fiction writer from the San Francisco Bay area. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Boston University, with a BA entitled “Independent Concentration in English Literature and Cognitive Science.” She has worked as an editor and teacher in California and New York.
Gallaudet University Participants:
GEORGE VASQUEZ & JONATHAN AINSWORTH studied at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. Both were recommended for participation in Word for Word based on their love of literature and creative composition in ASL and English, and on their excellent work in the course “ASL Literature,” the equivalent of a creative writing course in ASL. Jonathan has since graduated with an English major, and George with a major in ASL. George was also involved with theater at Gallaudet, which entails translation work.
Institutional Partner:
GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY is the world leader in liberal education and career development for deaf and hard of hearing students. The University enjoys an international reputation for its outstanding programs and for the quality of the research it conducts on the history, language, culture, and other topics related to deaf people.