Addendum to yesterday and ruminations on Gallaudet
So, I was out and about DC today. After getting some ice cream at Wendy's, I decided to hang out in this little park in George Washington University.
As I was relaxing, eating, and just enjoying the nice day, something struck me.
George Washington University isn't fenced off like Gallaudet is. It's a part of the community. Restaurants have franchises within GWU. Same for a lot of colleges. I remember visiting U of Michigan one summer and checking out the college town around it. Gallaudet doesn't have that feel to it. The fence around the property makes it feel too closed off, too isolated from the rest of the neighborhood. Granted, Gally's in a pretty ghetto area anyway, but it still makes me sad.
I don't really know of any other colleges that are isolated like Gallaudet is. I know the culture itself is isolated, but we're opening up. I was hanging out in a Ustream chatroom hosted by my friend's friend, and my friend's deaf too. A lot of the times, hearing people in the chatroom would beg her to teach them signs, and she often had mini teaching sessions in the Ustream when she was there. Hearing people are interested in sign language. They aren't calling deaf people "dummy" anymore. Audism is still around, but that can be taken care of if you educate people enough.
So why is Gallaudet still fairly isolated? Why do its classes push students out into DC, "force" them to experience the city? Why isn't enough of a Deaf community springing up around Gallaudet? I saw this movie today that was supposed to be shown to students interested in Gallaudet, and at one point, they were talking about Deaf architecture, setting up a Deaf community in the area. Why hasn't that happened already?
And on another note... I remember, two years ago, when I visited Gallaudet for the first time. The fence SCARED me when I saw it. I thought it meant that Gallaudet would be all closed off and scary. Now I know better, but first impressions do tend to stick. I also remember talking to my friend over spring break. Her oldest brother had asked about the fence around Gallaudet, and my friend had said it was to protect Gallaudet. I said that it also protected Gallaudet from the hearing world.
So... why do we have to have a fence around Gallaudet? Why can't we open up, like other colleges? Yes, we helped change the very definition of language, but that doesn't amount to anything when you give the impression that you're closed off and don't want to deal with those scary hearing people.
As I was relaxing, eating, and just enjoying the nice day, something struck me.
George Washington University isn't fenced off like Gallaudet is. It's a part of the community. Restaurants have franchises within GWU. Same for a lot of colleges. I remember visiting U of Michigan one summer and checking out the college town around it. Gallaudet doesn't have that feel to it. The fence around the property makes it feel too closed off, too isolated from the rest of the neighborhood. Granted, Gally's in a pretty ghetto area anyway, but it still makes me sad.
I don't really know of any other colleges that are isolated like Gallaudet is. I know the culture itself is isolated, but we're opening up. I was hanging out in a Ustream chatroom hosted by my friend's friend, and my friend's deaf too. A lot of the times, hearing people in the chatroom would beg her to teach them signs, and she often had mini teaching sessions in the Ustream when she was there. Hearing people are interested in sign language. They aren't calling deaf people "dummy" anymore. Audism is still around, but that can be taken care of if you educate people enough.
So why is Gallaudet still fairly isolated? Why do its classes push students out into DC, "force" them to experience the city? Why isn't enough of a Deaf community springing up around Gallaudet? I saw this movie today that was supposed to be shown to students interested in Gallaudet, and at one point, they were talking about Deaf architecture, setting up a Deaf community in the area. Why hasn't that happened already?
And on another note... I remember, two years ago, when I visited Gallaudet for the first time. The fence SCARED me when I saw it. I thought it meant that Gallaudet would be all closed off and scary. Now I know better, but first impressions do tend to stick. I also remember talking to my friend over spring break. Her oldest brother had asked about the fence around Gallaudet, and my friend had said it was to protect Gallaudet. I said that it also protected Gallaudet from the hearing world.
So... why do we have to have a fence around Gallaudet? Why can't we open up, like other colleges? Yes, we helped change the very definition of language, but that doesn't amount to anything when you give the impression that you're closed off and don't want to deal with those scary hearing people.