Monday, November 26, 2007

Joshua Swiller: Deafness, Africa, and the Peace Corps

Joshua Swiller, former Peace Corps volunteer and author of The Unheard: a memoir of Deafness and Africa will give a presentation tomorrow at Gallaudet University (12:20–1:20 p.m. in JSAC G-Area).


Swiller has openly shared his struggles with his identity as a deaf person, being raised with the oral method and having no connection with other deaf people except his brother and cousin. In his book, he describes that after graduating from Yale, he felt lost. He went to Gallaudet University hoping to find answers and learned sign language. He explains, "To the hearing people, I was deaf; to the deaf people, I was hearing." Continuing his search for himself, he joined the Peace Corps and worked in Africa.
I have already rescheduled meetings and appointments so that I am able to attend. I'll blog after the presentation.

I just added this YouTube video for those of you interested in Josh Swiller.



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