Amplifying Deaf Stories: UVA Student Creates First-Ever Festival ｜ UVA Today
When University of Virginia fourth-year student Molly Rathbun propped open the doors to Nau Hall on a rainy February morning, she wasn’t sure who would brave the weather for the event she created.
By day’s end, Rathbun’s Deaf Literature Festival had welcomed more than 80 attendees, featured six authors in the Deaf community and hosted an open mic session.
Rathbun, a psychology major with an American Sign Language and Deaf culture minor, took her first ASL course, ASL 1010, during her second year at UVA, with no prior experience with the language.
“I was just excited to meet new people from a culture different from my own,” Rathbun said, “and the UVA ASL program exceeded those expectations with welcoming classes and immediate immersion into the Deaf community.”
UVA’s ASL program builds a tight-knit community through its five-semester progression from beginner to conversational fluency, weekly practice opportunities and cultural events bringing students together beyond the classroom.
