The American-French connection in the founding of Deaf education is the stuff of legends.  Somewhat lesser known in the United States is the pivotal role of the partnership between French sociologist Bernard Mottez and 91福利导航鈥檚 Harry Markowicz. Their collaboration, starting in 1975, is with helping initiate France’s Deaf Awakening, which began to shift the country away from oralism.

So Dr. H-Dirksen L. Bauman, Director of Gallaudet鈥檚 Deaf Studies Program, was honored to continue this tradition of transatlantic cooperation as a visiting professor in Paris this past March. He was invited by EHESS (脡cole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, or the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences), the same institution where Mottez and Markowicz made history. Although it has been decades, Markowicz 鈥� a Gallaudet Professor Emeritus who passed away in 2020 鈥� is still fondly remembered by his Parisian colleagues. 鈥淢ention Harry to them and they light up,鈥� says Bauman, who shared his first office at Gallaudet with Markowicz.

Bauman鈥檚 visit centered on seminars that covered a range of topics: sign language poetry translation strategies, exploring the theory of Deaf Gain and the overlooked detriments of being hearing, and viewing sign language through the lens of 鈥渆co-poetics.鈥� This last area is something Bauman has started engaging with recently, and he appreciated the opportunity to venture into new territory.

As an example, Bauman uses the ASL sign for 鈥渢ree.鈥� It is no coincidence that it looks like a tree, with an arm standing in for the trunk and fingers extending out as branches. 鈥淥ur gestural, iconic representations in sign language respond to the way nature speaks,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 just arbitrarily invent gestures without the natural world presenting itself to us.鈥� Taking that idea a step further means that poems in sign language are collaborative efforts. 鈥淲e鈥檙e making them with nature,鈥� he adds.

These are not new ideas, but rather ones that date back to the 19th century. 鈥淭homas Hopkins Gallaudet wrote about the natural language of signs,鈥� says Bauman, who spent part of his time in Paris learning more about this perspective from archives. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just distanced ourselves from it to such a strong degree.鈥�

Bauman was heartened by the responses he got from his presentations, and he was grateful for the opportunities arranged by his hosts, Fabrice Bertin, Andrea Benvenuto, and Olivier Schetrit. They toured the first deaf school, Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, and had a memorable museum visit, where hearing and deaf people communicated about the art through gestures. 鈥淚t was not through French Sign Language or spoken French,鈥� Bauman says. 鈥淢y wife, who is an artist, said it was one of the best explorations of art that she has ever participated in.鈥�

This exchange of ideas will continue, notes Bauman, who is excited that Bertin, a French deaf historian, will be coming to Gallaudet this fall. Bertin鈥檚 book on 19th century French Deaf protest leaders, is also being translated by 91福利导航 Press. 鈥淲ith such a rich history of exchange, we look forward to an even more robust future of collaboration,鈥� Bauman says.