What is Deaf Studies?

The Centre for Deaf Studies in Trinity affords students the opportunity to develop insights into, and genuine appreciation for the culture, contributions, and contemporary issues related to Deaf people in Ireland and worldwide. The undergraduate programme is the only one of its kind in Ireland. Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the indigenous language of the Deaf Community in Ireland and is the working language at the Centre for Deaf Studies. There are many different sign languages in the world in the same way as there are different spoken languages.

 

ISL is the third language of Ireland, recognised in the Irish Sign Language Act (2017). It is also one of the many sign languages recognised by European Institutions and is recognised along with British Sign Language in Northern Ireland. During this four-year course students develop fluency in ISL. As a student you may choose to specialise as an ISL/English Interpreter or an ISL teacher, or to focus on Deaf Studies. Students entering the Deaf Studies programme will explore a range of educational, social, cultural, linguistic, and psychological issues and their application to Deaf people, as individuals, as a community, and as a linguistic and cultural minority.

 

The multi-disciplinary approach to your studies is led by a strong academic team, many of whom are Deaf. The degree programme will provide in-depth training preparing you for a number of exciting career options working with Deaf as a disability officer, resource officer, research assistant or as an administrator in Deaf community organisations to give a few examples. With this foundation, graduates frequently go on to complete postgraduate study.

 

Deaf Studies: The course for you?

The is the course for you if:

• You are interested in studying Irish Sign Language (ISL), Deaf culture and aspects of the Deaf community
• You wish to acquire an understanding of the Deaf community as a part of human diversity
• You wish to spend your professional or social life after graduation in the Deaf community, or to make further contributions in a chosen academic discipline

 

Deaf Studies at Trinity

The Centre for Deaf Studies in Trinity has an international reputation for its work: we bring approaches from across many disciplines (linguistics, equality studies, psychology, education, disability studies, gender studies, interpreting studies, social policy and digital humanities) to bear on our work with Deaf communities.

 

We engage closely with the Irish Deaf community and students will have the opportunity to learn from many of the world’s leading scholars in this discipline who collaborate with the Centre for Deaf Studies (CDS) staff.