Culture and language intertwine in the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of General Studies (B.G.S.) in American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf Studies. Gain an understanding of Deaf studies, social justice, and advanced ASL. This degree consists of course work designed for those who have a minimum of ASL IV proficiency and are interested in working with Deaf communities by communicating directly in ASL, or who are interested in pre-interpreting studies with a goal of pursuing interpreting education.
Course work and skill development provide a strong foundation in language and cultural education for those interested in fields such as social work, education, legal, medical, ASL/English interpretation and more. In addition, Deaf or hearing, heritage ASL users gain a deeper understanding of their home language and culture while earning a valuable professional credential.
Students seeking this degree typically take lower-level courses at a community college or at the KU Lawrence Campus and complete the upper-level courses at the Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KS.
The bachelor degree programs in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies follows university admission requirements for transfer students. First-year students apply for admission through the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
This program offers flexible pathways for students to complete their degree. Students can take foundational courses at community colleges or the KU Lawrence Campus, and complete upper-level coursework through the School of Professional Studies.
Upper-level course requirements for the major are offered in-person at the Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KS, with a few select courses available online.
The School of Professional Studies strongly encourages students to contact an academic advisor prior to applying for admission to develop a personalized degree completion plan. To schedule an appointment, please call 913-897-8539.
Transfer students with an associate’s degree or equivalent:
- Students with an associate's degree or equivalent, after meeting with an advisor and developing a degree completion plan, can typically begin taking junior and senior-level courses in their major.
Transfer students with 24-59 credit hours:
- Students with 24-59 credits, after meeting with an advisor and developing their plan, may still need to complete prerequisite and lower-level courses.
- Please note that online lower-level courses are limited, and no lower-level courses are offered at the Edwards Campus.
- Students may find more lower-level course availability in-person at the Lawrence Campus or at a community college.
- Schedule an appointment with an advisor and create a personalized plan, contact 913-897-8539.
First-year students:
Incoming first-year students wanting to pursue this major apply through the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. An academic advisor will guide you through lower-level course selections and help you declare American Sign Language and Deaf Studies as your academic major when you are ready to begin junior and senior level courses.
First-year students should select the following options on the KU admission application:
Program: College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Plan: Deciding
Subplan: Education and Public Service
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| ASLD 311 | Introduction to Deaf Studies | 3 |
| ASLD 312 | Intersectionality and Deaf Communities | 3 |
| ASLD 313 | Social Justice and Allyship with Deaf Communities | 3 |
| ASLD 505 | American Sign Language V (ASL V) | 3 |
| ASLD 506 | American Sign Language VI (ASL VI) | 3 |
| Historical Foundations of Deaf Education | |
| Special Topics in Deaf Studies: _____ | |
| Introduction to the ASL/English Interpreting Profession | |
| Theories of Interpreting: Co-Constructions of Meaning | |
| Discourse Analysis of ASL | |
| Visual-Gestural Communication | |
| Topics in ASL Vocabulary and Discourse: _____ | |
| Advanced American Sign Language Literature | |
| Language in Culture and Society | |
| Bilingualism | |
| Psycholinguistics I | |
| Field Experience in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies | |
| Research Experience in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies | |
| Total Hours | 120 |
Bachelor’s degree in ASL & Deaf Studies does not prepare students to interpret. Students wishing to sit for the interpreting credentialing exam should complete the ASL/English Interpreting certificate (Introduction and Professional Interpreting) in addition to their bachelor's in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies. Completion of the bachelors and certificate programs may result in the need to complete additional coursework. Please consult with your academic success coach for additional information.
While completing all required courses, students must also meet each of the following hour and grade-point average minimum standards:
Total Hours: Satisfied by a minimum of 120 total hours
Junior/Senior Hours: Satisfied by a minimum of 45 hours from junior/senior hours (300+).
Graduation GPA: Satisfied with a minimum 2.0 KU GPA and a minimum of a "C" in all required ASLD courses, electives, and capstone as listed above.
A sample 4-year plan for the BA degree in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies can be found here: American Sign Language and Deaf Studies, or by using the left-side navigation.
A sample 4-year plan for the BGS degree in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies can be found here: American Sign Language and Deaf Studies, or by using the left-side navigation.
At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Engage in content-specific ASL discourse.
- Incorporate ASL linguistic structures in content-specific ASL discourse.
- Delineate a variety of values that are natural to Deaf humans as part of human biodiversity that impacts their language(s), culture, community, and identities.
- Explain and examine the intersecting socio-cultural, linguistic and essentialism factors to identify and deconstruct the systemic oppressions and microaggressions experienced by diverse Deaf communities and society at large.
- Utilize Deaf Crit (Gertz, 2003) in their social and professional discourse to amplify the experiences of the Deaf to support anti-audism and anti-linguicism work.
- Apply erudition (knowledge) and skills in the fields of ASL and Deaf communities which can be part of their career development process.
