Speech is silently assumed to be a prime means of communication in academia – yet deafness or other causes may impede communication by speech. So if we aim for an inclusive academic community, how might we together overcome communication obstacles? 

We will learn from some experiences of deaf students and staff, followed by a brief exercise in sign language. Next, we’ll learn from research on alternative communication strategies that people use. 

The Campus Connection Dinner is an informal gathering where the Central Diversity Office serves pizza and facilitates dialogue, in collaboration with Vox-Pop. The theme of the second dinner is ‘When communication breaks down in academia’. We’ll do a brief exercise in sign language, hear about research on alternative communication strategies, followed by a dialogue about your personal experience with communication breakdown in academia. Everyone is welcome to join in!

Programme

17.00 - 17.30 - walk-in and get to know each other
17.30 - 17.40 – sign language exercise: Jos Ritmeester (PhD Sign language learning, SignLab UvA)
17.40 - 17.50 – research presentation on alternative communication strategies: Anna Palmann (PhD Multimodal communication, SignLab UvA)
17.50 - 19.00 - plenary dialogue session with pizza