University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Education, BS: American Sign Language Studies

The American Sign Language Studies Program offers an array of courses to prepare students to work with the Deaf community.  Students completing this program will have a deeper understanding of American Sign Language (ASL), Linguistics, Deaf History, Deaf Literature and Deaf Culture with an emphasis on the rich language and cultural diversity of the Deaf community as well as the social justice issues impacting their lives.

Several objectives will be covered during the program, such as Deaf culture, Deaf folklore, and Deaf literature, and the relationship between the signing community and the non-signing community. This program also covers linguistic components with several course offerings in ASL as well as specialized skill areas of ASL, such as a focus on grammatical structure and an overview of linguistic components.

Professions that find this program an enhancement to their work include (but are not limited to): interpreting, health care, criminal justice, education, exceptional education, psychology, social work and more.   Many of the courses offered through this program also satisfy certain GER requirements for the general student population such as foreign language (ASL I-IV) and cultural diversity (Deaf Culture or Deaf History).   All students start with ASL I however if a student has previous experience with the language, they may be placed into higher classes by taking the American Sign Language Proficiency Interview (ASLPI)  and may be eligible for retroactive credits if they meet all requirements.