Aflýst - Alþjóðadagur menningarlegrar fjölbreytni

AFLÝST AF ÓVIÐRÁÐANLEGUM ORSÖKUM!

Í tilefni af Alþjóðadegi menningarlegrar fjölbreytni, 21. maí, standa Rannsóknastofa í táknmálsfræðum og Vigdísarstofnun, alþjóðleg miðstöð tungumála og menningar, að fyrirlestri Rodney Adams, Háskólanum í Sydney: Maligagu - Empowering First Nations with Visual Communications 

Fyrirlesturinn verður fluttur á alþjóðatáknun (IS, International Signing) og túlkaður yfir á ensku. Í fyrirspurnum verður einnig túlkað á milli ensku og íslensks táknmáls. Fyrirlesturinn fer fram í  Auðarsal í Veröld, miðvikudaginn 21. maí kl. 13.

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Um fyrirlesarann

Rodney Adams is adjunct lecturer, researcher, and a deaf Koori from Western NSW and a Research Affiliate with the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney (CDRP). His research on Indigenous Sign Languages and issues impacting deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is essential to understanding deaf Indigenous health, education, and social and emotional wellbeing. Rodney has extensive experience teaching Auslan/Deaf Studies at University level and works at the University of Sydney in various courses such as ‘Disability and Decolonisation.’ He has co-written a paper on  ‘Indigenous and Deaf People and the Implications of Ongoing Practices of Colonization: A Comparison of Australia and Canada.’ His chapter on ‘The Importance of Indigenous Sign Languages on the Cultural Empowerment of Deaf Indigenous people’ in the book  “Indigenous Disability Studies” by John T Ward is a benchmark in Indigenous Studies worldwide. 

Um fyrirlesturinn

Like Indigenous spoken languages, Indigenous sign languages have been impacted by colonial ideologies of normalcy and European imperialism. These ideologies have threatened Indigenous languages with extinction. Global colonial agendas of domination of Indigenous lands from the 18th Century has meant the education of Indigenous people with hearing loss using western educational methods prohibited the use of Indigenous signed languages. This discussion paper presents an argument for the revitalisation of First Nations sign languages as part of the global advocacy movement to imbed Indigenous languages in communities and school education curricula. 

The colonial ideals of whiteness and audism are the antithesis of the traditional practice of disability inclusion, resulting in many First Nations who experience deafness also experiencing social exclusion in the wider community. Traditionally, deaf Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were not considered to be different from their hearing peers and Indigenous communities worked to be inclusive of people who were deaf. Indigenous communities around the world have an established signed language for people who are deaf.

This discussion paper challenges commonly held ideologies about normalcy, disability, and human diversity in the context of deaf and hard of hearing populations in Indigenous communities. The experiences of our identity as First Nations people and the experiences of deafness were collectively framed and shaped by our past. Reflecting on my experience of being a deaf Koori man I will examine what resolutions may reduce the impacts of colonisation, and how cultural benefits of revitalising Indigenous sign languages can enhance our wellbeing. The exploration of revitalisation attempts, its uniqueness and normalisation of our sign languages, and reducing the impacts of deficit ideologies will also be examined.