April 23, 2001
Deaf Awareness Week offers entertainment, workshops
Deaf Awareness Week at UCSC will offer a glimpse into the world of the deaf through
stage and film, a crash course in sign language, and presentations on the Americans
with Disabilities Act. All events are free.
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| Deaf actress and storyteller Missy Keast will give a one-woman show Thursday, May 3, during Deaf Awareness Week. |
"The Disability Resource Center is sponsoring Deaf Awareness Week [May 1-4] in hopes of opening the door for hearing people to enjoy a taste of deaf culture and gain a positive understanding of deafness," said Karen Keen, program services coordinator for the center.
Missy Keast, a deaf professional storyteller and actress who has toured with the National Theatre of the Deaf, will give a one-woman performance at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 3, at Stevenson College Dining Hall.
She has also compiled One Day: Our View, a book to be published this spring.
Deaf culture is documented in the book through history and photography. Keast's show
will be in sign language with voice interpreting for the "hearing inclined."
The documentary In the Land of the Deaf, by French filmmaker Nicolas Philbert,
will be shown at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, in Stevenson College Dining Hall.
The film, in French with French sign language and English subtitles, was called
"an engrossing eye-opening experience" by the New York Times.
Those who have always wanted to learn sign language may want to attend the workshop
by Sarah Beauchamp, a deaf student at UCSC. The workshop is from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday,
May 4, at the Cowell College Fireside Lounge.
Legal issues surrounding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will be addressed
at an all-day workshop
Tuesday, May 1, with a keynote speech by nationally known attorney and writer Salome
Heyward.
For more information, call the Disability Resource Center, (831) 459-5635 for voice
or (831) 459-4806 for those hard of hearing, deaf, and/or speech impaired.
