American Sign Language
Minor
American Sign Language minor overview
Looking for a valuable skill that helps people? With an American Sign Language minor, you'll gain conversational skills and better understand the way the Deaf community lives, thinks and communicates. The ASL minor is designed to expand your language skills and cultural knowledge to enhance other majors and fields of study.
ASL mission statement:
The mission of the American Sign Language minor at Central Michigan University is to provide student-centered and community-relevant learning opportunities that prepare individuals to positively and effectively interact with members of the Deaf community. Our program strives to assist students in acquiring competence in ASL, promote understanding of historical and current issues within the Deaf community, and positively impact society by spreading awareness and understanding of ASL and Deaf culture.
Program Snapshot
Earning an American Sign Language minor
The American Sign Language minor offers you the knowledge and skills you need to interact with the Deaf community positively and effectively.
You will gain competence in ASL. You'll help promote an understanding of historical and current issues within the Deaf community. Best of all, you'll enhance the awareness and knowledge of ASL and Deaf culture in our society.
Outside of the classroom, service-learning opportunities offer you the chance to provide ASL instruction, social interaction, classroom support and other community-based services to children and adults. In addition, the ASL minor offers students two opportunities for faculty-led study abroad: A Deaf culture course in France and a service-learning course in Jamaica. Both courses are taught in ASL and include short-term trips abroad.
The ASL minor pairs well with majors such as linguistics, communication sciences and disorders (speech-language pathology and audiology), journalism, business, education, theater, social work, psychology and health sciences.
American Sign Language minor highlights
With an American Sign Language minor, you'll:
- Network with like-minded students: Have the opportunity to join student organizations like the American Sign Language Society.
- Work with the Deaf community across Michigan: Gain not just language skills, but an understanding of how people in the Deaf community live, think and communicate.
- Take classes toward your major and your degree: Take courses that meet University Program Group IV requirements for Studies in Discrimination, Culture and Diversity. You also have the opportunity to take online and summer courses.
Life-changing audiology services
You can gain valuable experience working with those who have hearing impairments at the Carls Center for Clinical Care and Education in the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions. Combine the American Sign Language minor with a communication sciences and disorders major to build a career caring for the Deaf community and their families.
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