Gardner-Webb University, a Baptist college in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, offers a major in American Sign Language with an optional Interpreting minor. The program focuses not only on language skills, but also on understanding the diversity within deaf culture. Students participate in activities with the deaf each semester and take required classes on working with populations such as the deaf-blind, the developmentally disabled, and deaf older adults. Outside of the classroom, Gardner-Webb has a Deaf Club that sponsors activities for deaf students, ASL majors, or students with an interest in sign language. Students who wish to use their skills in ministry to others may also consider joining the college's Joyful Hands Choir, a group that performs on campus and in the community by signing along to worship music.
Gardner-Webb University
110 S. Main Street
PO Box 997
Boiling Springs, NC 28017
704-406-4000
gardner-webb.edu
The University of New Mexico offers the state's only bachelor's degree in Sign Language Interpreting. The program is highly competitive, with only 15 students being admitted each year based on their grades and demonstrated interest in the field. The major courses for freshman and sophomore years focus heavily on gaining fluency in ASL. As upperclassmen, students delve more deeply into acquiring interpretive skills and studying ASL and deaf culture from a linguistic and anthropological point of view. Outstanding students also have the opportunity to complete an honors research project under the mentorship of a professor in their senior year. Throughout the program, students have access to a technology center outfitted with the latest language-learning software for both deaf and hearing students.
University of New Mexico
MSC03 2130, Department of Linguistics
Humanities Building 526
Albuquerque, NM 87131
505-277-0111
unm.edu
Keuka College prides itself on offering extensive hands-on learning to all its students, including students in the ASL-English Interpreting program. Each student is required to complete a Field Period, a 140 hour experiential learning program, each year that they are enrolled at Keuka. For ASL-English Interpreting majors, at least two of these Field Periods must involve shadowing a professional interpreter. Between Field Periods and a 12 week full-time senior internship, students will graduate with at least 600 hours of field experience- more than any other program in the country requires. Students who want more experience will find a wealth of volunteer opportunities in the nearby city of Rochester, which has the most deaf citizens per capita in the entire United States. Interested students are also encouraged to minor in subjects such as Communication Studies, Spanish, or Theater.
Keuka College
141 Central Avenue
Keuka Park, NY 14478
315-279-5000
keuka.edu