Programs Performed In Sign Language
LaGuardia Community College’s Program for Deaf Adults will host the ninth-annual Celebration of Deaf History, Culture and Language at the Long Island City campus on May 4.
The agenda includes a workshop, a lecture and a live performance. All events, which are conducted in American Sign Language (ASL) with several providing English voice interpretation, are free and open to the public.
One workshop, titled “Non-Verbal Communication: Image of Body Language,” will teach participants how to better communicate and in- terpret using the body, face and gestures without spoken words or designed. Designed for ASL students and beginning interpreter students, the workshop will be conducted in ASL.
This workshop will take place in Room E-500 of LaGuardia’s EBuilding, located at 31-10 Thomson Ave., from 3 to 5 p.m. An RSVP is required by Tuesday, Apr. 30.
An interview with Russell Kane, the author of “Fighting the Long Sorrow: A Journey to Personhood,” will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the college’s Little Theater. In his novel, Kane records how Theodore “Teddy” Fitzgerald undergoes a personal transformation during his experience as a student during the 1988 Deaf President Now Protest at Gallaudet University.
The interview will be conducted in ASL and English voice interpretation will be provided. A book signing will follow.
Following the interview, there will be a performance of “Reflections of a Black Deaf Woman” by Michelle A. Banks from 7:30 to 9 p.m. The work, written by Banks, reveals the hardships and triumphs of two African-American woman (a deaf mother and her deaf daughter) which speaks to the human condition and the search for love and understanding.
The play, a mix of drama and humor, will be performed in ASL and English translation will be provided.
The entire celebration is hosted by the CUNY Diversity Projects Development Fund, ASL Club and Student Government Association.
For more information or to reserve a place at the workshop, call 1- 718-482-5324 or send an e-mail to japope@lagcc.cuny.edu.
