Abstract
Butterflies in the City: Deaf People, Sign Languages, and Access in Public Spaces
Gallaudet University, founded in 1864, is a bilingual higher education institution for deaf people which uses American Sign Language and English. Throughout its existence, it has always been in the same location: northeastern Washington DC, bordered on the right by the city’s Florida Avenue Market area, a warehouse and shipping district. In the 2010s, this area underwent extensive renovation to become one of the city’s new commercial districts. This presentation explores the changes in linguistic ecologies in this area as gentrification proceeded, and the emergence of ASL within this newly commodified public space.
