Research Guides: Deaf Studies &amp; American Sign Language: Home

Getting Started

Deaf Studies encompasses a wide range of topics: education, discrimination, deaf culture, sign languages, interpreting, and more. Because there are so many possible topics for research in deaf studies, searching can be overwhelming.

For best results, we recommend:

Do background research to identify search terms and issues that affect the deaf community.
Focus your topic to specific issues or groups of people.
Use the language of the researchers and scholars (the jargon) to expand or focus your search.
Use the bibliographies of relevant articles to find more information.

Recommended Books and Databases

These books and videos can help you do background research before you dive into the article databases.

Books

Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education (Print Book) by Marc Marschark, Patricia Elizabeth Spencer, and Peter E. Nathan (Editors)
Publication Date: 2011

The field of deaf studies, language, and education has grown dramatically over the past forty years. From work on the linguistics of sign language and parent-child interactions to analyses of school placement and the the mapping of brain function in deaf individuals, research across a range of disciplines has greatly expanded not just our knowledge of deafness and the deaf, but also the very origins of language, social interaction, and thinking.
SAGE Deaf Studies Encyclopedia (Print Book) by Genie Gertz and Patrick Boudreault (Editors)
Publication Date: 2016

The time has come for a new in-depth encyclopedic collection of entries defining the current state of Deaf Studies at an international level using critical and intersectional lenses encompassing the field. The emergence of Deaf Studies programs at colleges and universities and the broadened knowledge of social sciences (including but not limited to Deaf History, Deaf Culture, Signed Languages, Deaf Bilingual Education, Deaf Art, and more) have served to expand the activities of research, teaching, analysis, and curriculum development.

Databases

These databases are our top recommendations for research in deaf studies.

APA PsycInfo [EBSCO]

Partially peer reviewed. Some full-text content.
This database focuses on psychology and explores topics like psychiatry, pharmacology, linguistics, treatments, counseling, addiction, and more. Contains APA journals and articles
Education Full Text [EBSCO]

Partially peer reviewed. Some full-text content.
Topics include pedagogy, educational psychology, teaching methods, educational technology, and literacy. Contains journal articles.
Sociological Collection [EBSCO]

Partially peer reviewed. Some full-text content.
Explore sociology topics, such as human behavior, relationships, communication, community development, culture, and more. Includes journal articles.

Search for Articles

The articles tab on the library's homepage The best place to start most searches is the search box on the library's homepage. This search box defaults to Articles, giving you quick access to popular and scholarly articles from thousands of different publications.