Deaf Culture, Past and Present, to be Focus of Presentation

Deron Emmons

To complement the University of Findlay Theatre Department’s November production of “Mother Hicks,” which will feature a Deaf main character, a member of the Deaf community will offer a campus presentation about deaf cultural awareness.

Deron Emmons, owner of Interpreters of the Deaf, LLC, will speak on Friday, Nov. 16 at 1:30 p.m. in Ritz Auditorium, located in Old Main. The event will be free and open to the public. It will follow productions of “Mother Hicks,” which will take place Nov. 8, 9, 10 and 11 at Marathon Center for the Performing Arts. Click here for more information about the play.

Hosted by the University’s Theatre Department and Modern Languages Department, Emmons will offer information on how perception of the Deaf has and has not changed since the Great Depression, the era in which “Mother Hicks” takes place. Emmons will also relate the importance of hearing individuals understanding American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf culture in connection to specific majors and professions.

Emmons spoke at UF in 2017, dedicating that presentation of Deaf 101 to his son, EJ, a 2018 UF graduate. Emmons presents entirely in ASL while voicing through an interpreter. Last year, Emmons told of the struggles facing the Deaf community, of his experiences growing up without ASL, and of his eventual embracing of the language.

Emmons’ Nov. 16 presentation is being funded by the UF Convocations Committee, the Center for Teaching Excellence, and the Language and Culture Department.