| Unit name | Deafhood Philosophy and Social Theory |
|---|---|
| Unit code | DEAFM1009 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Paddy Ladd |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Centre for Deaf Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit presents to students the epistemological rationale for the whole MSc course, and provides key conceptual tools for them to utilise in the other units. It presents an analysis of the Deaf persons and communities of the world as visuo-gestural-tactile Sign Language Peoples, whose Deafhood knowledge makes a positive contribution to world, and advances the frontiers of human self-knowledge. These are represented as the search for SLP epistemologies and ontologies. In advancing this narrative, the unit dissects the weaknesses of the medical and social models of deafness, and analyses Western societies treatment of Sign Language Peoples (SLPs) utilising post-colonial concepts. In so doing it posits a new culturo-linguistic model of Deafhood as the raison d&�etre of Deaf Studies, examines parallels with other minority languages and other minority studies disciplines, and introduces new ideas from Human Geography based on the new concept of Deafscape.
