Cochlear Implants: Evolving Perspectives

Contributors

273 ContRIBUtoRs Benjamin Bahan is a Professor in the Department of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University. He is the co-author of the book Journey into the Deaf World (1996) and The Syntax of American Sign Language (2000). Benjamin has also co-directed and co-scripted the following videos: Audism Unveiled (2008) and A to Z: ABC Stories in ASL (2010). He currently serves as Executive Editor with Dirksen Bauman and Melissa Malzkuhn of the Deaf Studies Digital Journal (DSDJ.gallaudet.edu), the world’s first online, peer-reviewed academic and cultural arts journal to feature scholarship and creative work in both signed and written languages. H-Dirksen Bauman is Professor of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University where he serves as the coordinator for the master’s program in Deaf Studies and Coordinator for the Office of Bilingual Teaching and Learning. He is the co-editor of the book/DVD project, Signing the Body Poetic: Essays in American Sign Language (2006) and editor of Open Your Eyes: Deaf Studies Talking (2008). Dirksen Bauman is also a producer and co-director of the film Audism Unveiled (2008). He currently serves as Executive Editor with Ben Bahan and Melissa Malzkuhn of the Deaf Studies Digital Journal (DSDJ.gallaudet.edu), the world’s first online, peer-reviewed academic and cultural arts journal to feature scholarship and creative work in both signed and written languages. John B. Christiansen is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Gallaudet. He received his PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside, in 1976 and taught at Gallaudet from 1977 until his retirement in 2009. His most recent book is Reflections: My Life in the Deaf and Hearing Worlds (2010) He co-authored (with Sharon Barnartt) Deaf President Now! The 1988 Revolution at Gallaudet University (1995) and (with Irene W. Leigh) Cochlear Implants in Children: Ethics and Choices (2002/2005) He has also written or co-authored dozens of articles and book chapters. A cochlear implant user (on one ear only), when he is not reading or writing he can usually be found riding his bicycle. Jane Dillehay has been a faculty member of Gallaudet since 1980 and is currently Full Professor in the General Studies program. She has been the Chairperson of the Biology Department and was Dean of the College of Liberal 274 ContrIButors Arts, Sciences and Technologies for 9 years. She obtained her PhD in molecular biology from Carnegie Mellon University in 1980. Dr. Dillehay has collaborated with researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and George Washington University Medical School in studying the mechanisms of eukaryotic DNA repair. Her current research interests are in bioethics and the application of the principles of cognitive psychology to effective pedagogy in science education. She obtained a cochlear implant in September 2008 and is learning to handle the world of sound. Jill Duncan is Head of Graduate Studies at the RIDBC Renwick Centre for Research and Professional Education at the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children and Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Newcastle, Australia. She has had the privilege of learning from Professors Richard and Laura Kretschmer, and Professor Roberta Truax and working alongside Helen Beebe. She is a practicing Teacher of the Deaf and an AuditoryVerbal Therapist. Maribel Gárate is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Gallaudet University. She earned two master’s degrees from Gallaudet University—Deaf Education: Elementary and American Sign Language Linguistics. Her PhD is in Deaf Education with a focus on bilingual education. Dr. Gárate has taught Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in both residential and mainstreamed settings. She is actively involved in teaching, training, consulting, and researching about ASL/English bilingual education. She has also conducted training and made presentations on topics related to bilingual methodologies, literacy instruction, and ASL linguistics to teachers and school administrators both nationally and internationally. Raychelle L. Harris is a faculty member at Gallaudet University in the Department of American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf Studies where she serves as a coordinator of the masters’ program in Sign Language Teaching. She earned her doctorate from Gallaudet University in Deaf Education with a focus on Educational Linguistics. Her dissertation study was about the construction of academic language in a bilingual ASL/English preschool classroom with Deaf teachers and students. As a committed advocate of social justice, Dr. Harris presents and publishes about the ethics of research within Sign Language communities. Poorna Kushalnagar received...