Said@Duke: Donna Jo Napoli on the Merits of Learning Sign Language

Said@Duke Donna Jo Napoli, professor/linguist at Swarthmore College. "Studying sign languages benefits anyone interested in the architecture of the brain, in other cultures, and in serving the needs of society through careers in medicine, teaching and, increasingly, AI"

Donna Jo Napoli, a professor at Swarthmore College and world-renowned linguist, ASL advocate and children’s book author, spoke at Duke during ASL awareness week. By combining her academic expertise with her personal experience working with children with deafness or hearing impairments, she demystified misconceptions about sign languages and highlighted their enormous relevance in today’s society. Her talk was sponsored by the Trinity Languages Council and the Department of Romance Studies.

View more from the Said@Duke series.