ASL professor receives appointment at the Deaf Arts Academy to promote signed music

Assistant Professor of American Sign Language (ASL) Jody Cripps is continuing to advocate for increased awareness and the development of signed music.

Earlier this year, Cripps was appointed to serve as the professor of signed music at the Deaf Arts Academy. The academy is supported by the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf, which hosts a festival to celebrate Canadian deaf art and culture. Cripps will participate in sessions held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from June 16-22 about the emerging art form that flows from the culture of deaf people.

His responsibilities include creating the curriculum on signed music as one of the signed language arts for the Deaf Arts Academy, explaining signed music and encouraging the musical inventiveness of deaf professionals.

It is an exciting time for deaf performers and community members to explore more about their own music — signed music.

JODY CRIPPS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (ASL)

Outside of his research into signed music, Cripps has developed and maintained a unique partnership between his students and the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

More on ASL at Clemson

Clemson is one of only 172 four-year institutions that fully recognize ASL as a unique and complex language. It is also the only public university in South Carolina that offers a Modern Languages bachelor’s degree in ASL. ASL has been offered at Clemson since 2000.