Dr. Genie Gertz is currently the Dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. An
internationally recognized scholar and active political figure in
the advancement of sign languages and Deaf people, Dr. Gertz has
been responsible for numerous cultural and educational programs
aimed to enlighten both deaf and hearing individuals alike to
bridge gaps of inequality. Dr. Gertz has served on the governing
boards of Deaf Women United and the National Association for the
Deaf, as well as been involved in the Deaf community in a variety
of ways. Through her teaching, critical discourse and activism, she
has been influential in shaping the minds of many individuals with
the overarching goal of cultural competence.
After having graduated from Gallaudet University, Dr. Gertz went on
to pursue her M.A. degree in Human Resources
Management/Organizational Development in Higher Education from New
York University, and a Ph.D. from University of California, Los
Angeles in Cultural Studies with a concentration in Racial/Ethnic
Studies. Her involvement in the field of Deaf Studies has spanned
over 20 years. Prior to assuming her current position at Gallaudet,
Dr. Gertz served as the Dean of the Deaf Studies Division at Ohlone
College in Fremont, California in which she oversaw a wide spectrum
of programs. She began her career in Deaf Studies at California
State University, Northridge (CSUN) where she played an invaluable
role in fostering the growth of the Deaf Studies program, which is
now one of the largest Deaf Studies programs in the nation. It was
during her tenure at CSUN that Dr. Gertz became involved with the
vision for The SAGE Deaf Studies Encyclopedia that comes to
fruition with the publication of this volume.
Dr. Gertz’s scholarly interests range from exploring the social,
cultural, linguistic, and educational features that weaken Deaf
individuals’ development of Deaf consciousness that affect the
formation of solid identities, to Deaf Critical Race Theory (Deaf
Crits), which connects theory to the lives of Deaf people by
looking at Deaf experiences from the social construction framework
informed by Critical Race Theory. In her dissertation research, she
coined the term dysconscious audism, illustrating how a Deaf
individual’s consciousness and therefore identity formation is
hampered by varying factors; this concept has become a mainstay
within the field of Deaf Studies. With an eye toward multicultural
and intersectional analysis, Dr. Gertz was also instrumental in
establishing and incorporating Deaf Women’s Studies within the Deaf
Studies curriculum during her time at CSUN. The establishment of
Deaf Women’s Studies is but one avenue through which she has
promoted comprehensive and multidimensional analysis within the
field writ large.
Born Deaf to hearing parents, Dr. Gertz emigrated to the United
States from St. Petersburg, Russia when she was eight years old. As
a fluent user of American Sign Language, Russian Sign Language,
Russian and English, her upbringing deeply instilled in her the
values of diversity in language and culture, which she continues to
cherish. Dr. Patrick Boudreault is currently an Associate Professor
in the Department of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at
Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., where he oversees the
Master’s in Sign Language Education program. Hailing from
Quebec City, Canada, he is a native user of Langue des Signes
Québécoise and is fluent in American Sign Language, English and
French. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the
University of Manitoba at Winnipeg, a M.Sc. degree in Communication
Sciences and Disorders from McGill University, and a B.A. degree in
Linguistics from Université du Québec à Montréal. He has been
involved in the field of sign language teaching and Deaf Studies
for more than 20 years in both Canada and the United States. Prior
to joining the faculty at Gallaudet University, Dr. Boudreault was
an Assistant Professor at California State University, Northridge,
where he played an instrumental role in the exponential growth of
one most venerable Deaf Studies programs in the United States.
Dr. Boudreault has collaborated with researchers across North
America on a variety of research topics related to the Deaf
community and sign language. Since 2005, he has collaborated
with Dr. Christina Palmer of University of California, Los
Angeles. Together, they have received substantial funding from the
National Institutes of Health for Deaf Genetics Projects to
investigate the impact of genetic testing and genetic counseling
for the deaf genes, Connexin 26 and 30, on the Deaf community in
California. He and Dr. Palmer also seek to increase the Deaf
community’s access to culturally and linguistically appropriate
health literacy materials in both ASL and English.
More broadly, Dr. Boudreault’s primary areas of interest revolve
around the topics of sign language translation and interpreting,
mapping sign language acquisition, developing and designing sign
language assessment tools, and most recently, examining sign
languages as heritage languages. At the heart of his research lies
his passion for the preservation and embrace of sign language
diversity with an aim toward promoting its social and academic
currency. His work, academic and otherwise, is grounded in
advocating for sign language as the most accessible and natural
means of communication for the Deaf community.
"Written by an international team of subject specialists at a level
appropriate for a general audience, the more than 320
alphabetically arranged, signed entries average several pages in
length… Broad areas include Deaf community diversity, health,
history, organizations, psychology, and sociology as well as Deaf
education, employment, language, law, and technology… With an
estimated 20 million hearing-impaired individuals in the U.S.
alone, this encyclopedia should have broad appeal. Notable for
authoritative international coverage, this work merits high
recommendation for academic and public libraries."
*Booklist*
"This work provides a great deal of information, on an
international scope, about the world of the deaf. All libraries
with students/patrons/scholars interested in the topic would
benefit from acquiring this set."
*American Reference Books Annual*
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