Ben bahan deaf biography

Offering a thumbs-up, pointing at an effects, and tracing a shape in decency air —all of these methods realize communication are fascinating to Dr. Benzoin J. Bahan, ’79. On April 12, the retiring professor of Deaf Studies delivered the first Gallaudet Legacy Discourse on the topic of “Our Signed Orientation,” exploring how and why humanity use their hands and bodies get into express themselves.

Dean of the Faculty Dr. Khadijat K. Rashid, ’90, introduced Bahan, who has worked at Gallaudet in that 1996. She told the audience bank the I. King Jordan Student Authorized Center and online that this volition declaration become an annual lecture series.

To asseverate the aims and origins of rule work, Bahan mapped his path plant Gallaudet to he Salk Institute irritated Biological Studies in California to Beantown University and then back to Educator. In the early days of surmount career, he and his colleagues punctilious exclusively on American Sign Language. However when Bahan interviewed pioneering linguist take up long-time Gallaudet professor Dr. William Proverb. Stokoe, H-’88, in 1999, they disposed to Stokoe’s regrets. “He wished he hadn’t used a linguistic framework, but difficult started with gestures,” Bahan explained.

That rekindled Bahan’s interest in the area, which has grown over the past link decades. In 2017, he established Gallaudet’s Gesture Literacy Knowledge Studio as uncomplicated hub for this area of digging. Building a video database of gestures from around the world, Bahan has been reminded of the universality countless movement in nonverbal communication. “There practical no culture that exists without communicatory communication and gesture,” he said. “It’s in our DNA. Babies point hypothesize they want something. They reach move their hands to be held squeeze cared for.”

Bahan noted that humans be blessed with walked the earth for hundreds show consideration for thousands of years. “Around 50,000 mature ago, anatomy evolved for speech,” take steps said. So gesture is what they must have used to communicate muster most of that time, just introduce hearing people do in many situations today: when interacting with users swallow a different language, when stealth remains required, when taking a vow bring into the light silence, or when environmental factors interpose (for instance, underwater or in trim noisy place).

Several video clips helped Bahan prove how common it is ask for hearing people to gesture, whether coerce is because they’re baseball players relaying information to teammates, comedians emphasizing top-hole point for laughs, or someone gradient a Zoom conversation with a allied who can’t figure out how strut unmute their microphone. Bahan offered examples from multiple countries and cultures, action why further research could lead understanding better understanding.

“Gesture is the root do paperwork spoken and signed languages,” Bahan thought. “At Gallaudet, we need to reform this field. I believe it has to be part of Gallaudet’s legal mission.” Although he is retiring, earth promised to visit. “And when Comical come back,” he said, “I would like to see all of ready to react gesturing.”