Faculty

Amanda Lujan

Amanda Luján teaches undergraduate courses in the B.S. Degree in Signed Language Interpreting. Her training and educational background include signed language interpreting and interpreting pedagogy. She is an interpreter practitioner with experience in a variety of settings such as governmental, educational, and medical. She works closely with the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities to ensure that interpreter education and the quality of interpreting services meets the demand and diversity of all stakeholders.

Dawn Myers

M.S., Lecturer. Dawn teaches Introduction to Signed Language and American Sign Language. Before working with us as a full-time lecturer, Dawn was an affiliated faculty for many years. Dawn worked for many years as a professional, RID-certified interpreter for the public schools.

Barbara Shaffer

Ph.D., Professor. Dr. Shaffer teaches interpreting courses and supervises our practicum experience. Her research interests include the historical development of signed languages, signed language acquisition, and interpreting theory.

Phyllis Wilcox, Professor Emerita

Ph.D., Professor Emerita. Dr. Wilcox teaches American Sign Language, fingerspelling, and interpreting. Her research interests include metaphor and metonymy in signed languages. She is the author Metaphor in ASL (Gallaudet University Press). Phyllis founded the Signed Language Interpreting Program in 1982.

Sherman Wilcox, Distinguished Professor Emeritus

Ph.D., Professor. Dr. Wilcox teaches Deaf culture, theory of interpreting, and ASL linguistics. He is the author of several books and articles, including Gesture and the Nature of Language (Cambridge University Press), and The Gestural Origin of Language (Oxford University Press).

Erin Wilkinson

Ph.D., Professor. Dr. Wilkinson teaches American Sign Language, fingerspelling, Deaf culture, and signed language linguistics. Her research interests include bilingualism in signing populations, language change and variation in signed languages, and signed language typology.

AFFILIATED FACULTY

The signed language interpreting program also relies on a group of dedicated and highly qualified part-time instructors. Often coming from the ranks of working interpreters, these instructors bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the program. In addition, graduate students in the department's MA and Ph.D. programs, both deaf and hearing, often receive teaching assistantships and teach courses in the interpreting program.