Join Dr. Mazique for a presentation on Deaf bioethics and genetic selection, featuring ASL poetry, film clips, creative literature, and international legal frameworks. This talk aims to explore interdisciplinary perspective from humanities to law and bioethics on editing deaf genes and to launch a structured academic dialogue at RIT/NTID as part of RADSCC’s inaugural themed ASL Lecture Series.

Abstract:
Bringing together literature, film, law, philosophy and healthcare ethics, this talk will examine Deaf bioethics and the editing of genes that cause deafness from an interdisciplinary perspective. I will present ASL poetry, a synopsis of a science fiction story, a clip from a docufiction film, an English poem by a Deaf poet, life writings in ASL from a Deaf family, as well as international legal instruments and laws relevant to Deaf bioethics and genetic selection. Some of the selected pieces of literature and film are responses to reproductive laws and developments in genetic editing, others predicted the future we currently live in—one in which genetic technologies like gene therapy and CRISPR-Cas9 can edit certain genes that cause deafness.

Dr. Rachel Mazique Bio:
Rachel Mazique, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Liberal Studies at NTID. An interdisciplinary humanities scholar and professor of both literature and composition, Mazique specializes in Deaf literature, Deaf studies, disability studies, as well as composition studies. Her interdisciplinary research includes Deaf bioethics and human rights discourse, cognitive approaches to literary studies, as well as writing pedagogy. She teaches a wide range of courses, including First-Year Writing Seminar, Critical Reading and Writing, Deaf Literature, and Visual Expressions of Deaf Culture to both deaf and hearing students at RIT.

Registration:
No registration is required to attend. The event is free and open to the public. Interpreters have been requested.

For more information, contact Jeanne Behm, RADSCC coordinator and ASL instructor, at jsbnss@rit.edu.

NTID’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreting Education is an Approved RID CMP Sponsor for Continuing Education Activities. This Professional Studies level program is offered for .1 CEU at the Some Content Knowledge Level.