Skip to the content
signs@HWUsigns@HWU
SIGNS@HWU is a group of researchers who focus on sign language studies and Deaf Studies. We are situated in the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Heriot-Watt University. SIGNS@HWU was established as a cluster of the Centre for Translation and Interpreting Studies in Scotland, to profile the world-leading interdisciplinary research being conducted at Heriot-Watt University.
  • People
  • Projects
  • News & Events
Deaf mobilities across international borders: Visualising intersectionality and translanguaging (MobileDeaf) (2017-2023)
  • Visit the project website
  • Relevance: Current
  • mobilities
    sign multilingualism
    deaf space
  •  

The MobileDeaf project studies a spectrum of international deaf mobilities in four sub-projects.

The sub-project on forced migration takes place in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya where a large number of deaf refugees from several African countries live. The sub-project on labour migration takes place in London where deaf people moved from all over the world. The sub-project on professional mobility takes place at various international deaf conferences, sports events and courses and consists of multi-sited field work. This subproject is mostly focused on the study of practices and politics of International Sign. The sub-project on tourist mobility takes place in Bali where deaf tourists mostly from Europe, Australia and the US visit and make use of tourist services catered specifically to deaf people.

We use a theoretical frame that is adaptable to the four different contexts, and yet can offer us the potential to identify patterns across the subprojects. We use two key concepts, the first of which is intersectionality, capturing how deaf people of various backgrounds are never only deaf: being deaf intersects with race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, educational level, religion, and so on. The concept enables us to focus on how differences in power and resources lead to inequality and oppression while also investigating contexts that lead to opportunity and empowerment.

People negotiate intersectionality in their daily encounters through communicative interactions, hence the centrality of the second concept, that of translanguaging. The concept covers how deaf people make use of diverse linguistic resources, which are always multimodal. This can include International Sign, the use of different sign languages, gestures, writing and fingerspelling in different languages and scripts, mouthings, speech, drawing, and so on. As such we investigate how internationally mobile deaf people are using diverse communicative resources to align with their interlocutors. We also focus on language ideologies regarding the use of International Sign in particular and translanguaging in general.

Our research team consist of five deaf multilingual signers. Our methodology consists of ethnography, in particular participant observation, informal conversations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. We make use of visual methods, including ethnographic fimmaking, photographs and videos created by participants and researchers.

SIGNS@HWU people on this project:

Amandine le Maire
Dr. Annelies Kusters
Dr. Erin Moriarty
Sanchayeeta Iyer

Project partners and funders:

This project is funded by the European Research Council, Project ID 714615.
Contact us

© 2023 signs@HWU
HWU logo
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can adjust the settings if you wish. Read our cookie policyCookie settingsConfirm
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent.
Necessary
Always Enabled
This category only includes cookies that are absolutely essential for this website to function properly. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT