UTSA welcomes Catherine O'Brien for March 24 lecture exploring educational needs of the deaf

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(March 16, 2015) – The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) welcomes Gallaudet University Assistant Professor Catherine O'Brien this month for "The Context of Deaf Education: Perceptions of Language, Disability and Culture." The Consortium for Social Transformation in the UTSA College of Education and Human Development will sponsor the lecture, which is free and open to the public.

O'Brien's lecture is scheduled at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24 in the Main Building Auditorium (MB 0.104) on the UTSA Main Campus. It will be delivered in English and American Sign Language.

After two years as the I. King Jordan Chair Fellow from 2011 to 2013, O'Brien joined the Gallaudet faculty as an assistant professor. Gallaudet is the world's only liberal arts university for the deaf.

While at UTSA, O'Brien will address how culturally competent school leaders and educators can respond to the needs of people who are deaf to promote citizenship, pluralism, equity and power-sharing. Her research focuses on language, school culture, culturally relevant leadership, school reform and social justice, deaf culture and schooling, and the improvement of educational outcomes for deaf children.

Deaf people often become members of the Deaf Community, a culture that uses a visual language (American Sign Language). They are also considered to be a linguistic minority. Deaf people possess a sense of pride regarding their language and culture. However, research demonstrates that the hearing community perceives deafness as a barrier or an insurmountable handicap. In the same way that the hearing community bonds through language, the deaf community connects through American Sign Language and has developed a rich linguistic tradition. People who are deaf struggle between the identities of disability and culture, a dynamic that O'Brien says has the potential to devalue their identities and their educational experiences.

"Catherine O'Brien is the nation's only deaf scholar in educational leadership," said Maricela Oliva, associate professor in the UTSA Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. "By sharing what she knows, Dr. O'Brien expands our understanding of student diversity with new knowledge about deaf education and leadership. This will help us better understand deaf students' needs, learning which is in line with our multicultural mission as an institution of access and excellence. We are honored to welcome Dr. O'Brien to UTSA to connect with San Antonio's deaf community and with our top-tier faculty and students."

O'Brien was the winner of the 2012 AERA Division A Dissertation of the Year Award for her doctoral dissertation, The Influence of Deaf Culture on School Culture and Leadership: A Case Study of a State School for the Deaf. She has also published several journal articles, book chapters and deaf encyclopedic articles.

Prior to forging a career in higher education, O'Brien worked with elementary and high school students and with the Missouri Department of Mental Health. Notably, from 1997 to 2005, O'Brien coached a high school basketball team to eight consecutive State Championships.

While visiting UTSA, O'Brien, and Stephen Weiner – who served as Gallaudet University provost from 2007 to 2014 and currently is a professor who is involved in developing multidisciplinary leadership programs at Gallaudet – will learn more about the UTSA doctoral program in educational leadership.

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To learn more about the upcoming lecture, contact Maricela Oliva at maricela.oliva@utsa.edu or via Skype at olivautsa.

Follow the lecture on Twitter: #UTSACOEHD

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