Interdisciplinary conference "What does it mean to be deaf? New challenges for the community"

Dear colleagues!
We invite you to take part in an Interdisciplinary conference 
«What does it mean to be deaf? New challenges for the community»

What does it mean for a modern person to be deaf or hard of hearing? How is his identity formed? What are his possible life trajectories? These and other issues are the subject of the I International Interdisciplinary Conference, held on May 21, 2023 by the GES-2 House of Culture and the International Laboratory for Research on Social Integration of the Higher School of Economics. 

Deafness is a large and complex topic that goes beyond the exclusively medical or sociopolitical sphere. That is why it is customary all over the world to single out her research in a separate interdisciplinary direction of deaf studies, which is very relevant today. 

The holding of the conference in the GES-2 House of Culture is not accidental. For most of the twentieth century, the "places of strength" for the domestic community of the deaf and hard of hearing were the houses of culture of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf. For many people, they became a second home: here they were engaged in creative and craft clubs and sports sections, found friends and often spouses, learned about the culture of the hearing majority and developed their own. In recent decades, the activity of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf culture houses has decreased, but the request for all of the above remained — and the answer to it was the permanent program "Deaf and Ringing", operating in the GES-2 since the autumn of 2022. It unites projects that develop the culture of the deaf and help to comprehend its features, tells the world about the identity of representatives of this community, and also provides the deaf and hard of hearing with the opportunity to join public cultural practices. 

The conference will be held in an offline format (address: Moscow, 15 Bolotnaya Embankment) with the possibility of remote connection to individual sections. 

We invite researchers of the deaf and sign language community, as well as specialists in the theory and practice of social integration in Russia and abroad to present their reports: scientists, consultants, practitioners, students and postgraduates, representatives of public organizations and business. 

Following the results of the conference, it is planned to publish a collection of articles, all materials of which will be reviewed anonymously. 

Materials prepared by the participants of the circle "Researching the Deaf community" will also be presented. It brought together deaf young people aged 14-21 who, with the help of researchers, teachers, historians and sociologists, studied how the identity of representatives of this community is formed in Russia. 

We will be glad if representatives of the community and their hearing associates, including parents of deaf and hard of hearing children, hearing children of deaf parents, teachers of correctional and inclusive schools, researchers and specialists in Russian sign language and deaf culture, will take part in the discussions.  

Areas of work of the conference: 

• Sign language and modern approaches to linguistic research of the deaf
• Prospects for the development of the sphere of labor and employment of the deaf
• New practices of the deaf in the era of technologization and digitalization
• The identity of deaf and hard of hearing people and the impact of deafness and hearing peculiarities on their lives
• Cultural citizenship and the potential of urban spaces to achieve inclusion: new challenges and opportunities
• Different aspects of the representation of deafness in popular culture and the media environment
• Sign language in Education: Transformation of ideology and Practices
• Well-being, independence and health of the deaf in the context of socio-economic transformations
• Modern approaches to the methodology of research of the deaf community
• In Search of Deaf Culture in Modern Russia
• Transformation of sign language translation techniques and practices: old difficulties and new challenges 

To submit an application for participation in the conference with a report, you must fill out the registration form.

If you want to listen to the reports and participate in the discussions, the registration form will open on May 10, 2023. on the website of GES-2 House of Culture. 

Main dates: 

• Submission of an application for participation in the conference with a report - until April 30, 2023.
• Consideration by the Organizing Committee of the conference of applications for participation with a report - until May 7, 2023. 

The conference program is published on the website of GES-2 House of Culture and on the website of our Laboratory. 

If you have any questions, write to e-mail: nbolshakov@hse.ru