Research Proposal

It seems no matter where I go, deaf culture is not well known. People seem to have a general understanding of what American Sign Language is, however; few, or if any, know how to sign or what the culture represents. Tampa, the town I used to live in before I moved to Tallahassee, didn’t have any information or opportunities to learn about the deaf culture even though there were deaf families in the town and deaf students in my high school. The closest deaf community center was forty-five minutes out of way from the town. I have lived in Tallahassee for a month now and the only community that I have found is the American Sign Language club run by the professor at Florida State who teaches sign language. My plan is to email the professor and ask if I can interview her on what happens within the club. I also want to ask members who are apart of the club as well to get their opinion on their thoughts of the club. By doing this, it gives me a chance to understand if the club is worth joining and/or if there is anything I can do to improve the situation with the club. My goal of this research project is to be able to speak out for the deaf culture. I am not deaf but this community has impacted me in wanting to understand what a deaf person goes through and I believe more people should want to learn as well.