Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: Deaf Communities in Tanzania

博士论文研究改进补助金：坦桑尼亚聋人社区

• 批准号: 0852548
• 负责人: J. Terrence McCabe
• 金额: $ 1.44万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-03-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0852548&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Improvement; Grant

Graduate student Jessica Lee (University of Colorado), supervised by Dr. J. Terrence McCabe, will investigate how community is formed and maintained among deaf people in Tanzania. The research will focus on the processes that influence identity and community formation in the context of extreme marginalization and the unique situation of visual communication. The researcher will use survey, life-history and group interviews, photo visioning, and participant-observation in order to understand (1) how and when do deaf people participate in public life, (2) how are NGOs, particularly the Tanzanian Association of the Deaf, transfer points of transnational discourses about deaf identity politics and influence identity formation in deaf people, and (3) how the social contexts of living in Tanzania affect deaf people's construction of self and categories like culturally deaf, deafness, and disability. Participants will be recruited from deaf people with variable levels of association with the NGO and other deaf people. The research will compare these findings between a metropolitan city, Dar es Salaam, and a more rural location, Iringa. This research will contribute to a growing body of knowledge on communities of deaf people. It is particularly important in light of the dearth of research on people who are deaf living in poor countries, such as those of Sub-Saharan Africa. This study will also contribute to discussions about NGOs and their role in transnational networks of influence as global discourses engage with local lives. Tanzania makes for an interesting research site due to the deaf activism, the distinctiveness of Tanzanian Sign Language, and the history of NGO involvement. This project will contribute to theoretical discussions of identity and community formation, NGOs and globalization, and Deaf studies. It will be significant in applied issues like advocacy and policy formation for one of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations in the developing world, the deaf.

研究生杰西卡·李（科罗拉多大学）在 J. Terrence McCabe 博士的指导下，将调查坦桑尼亚聋哑人如何形成和维持社区。 该研究将重点关注在极端边缘化和视觉传播的独特情况下影响身份和社区形成的过程。 研究人员将使用调查、生活史和小组访谈、照片视觉和参与者观察来了解（1）聋人如何以及何时参与公共生活，（2）非政府组织，特别是坦桑尼亚聋人协会，如何成为关于聋人身份政治的跨国话语的转移点并影响聋人的身份形成，以及（3）生活在坦桑尼亚的社会背景如何影响聋人 人们对自我的建构以及文化上的聋哑、耳聋和残疾等类别。 参与者将从与非政府组织有不同程度联系的聋人以及其他聋人中招募。 该研究将比较达累斯萨拉姆大都市和伊林加乡村地区的这些发现。 这项研究将有助于增加有关聋人社区的知识。 鉴于缺乏对生活在撒哈拉以南非洲等贫穷国家的聋人的研究，这一点尤为重要。 随着全球话语与当地生活的接触，这项研究还将有助于讨论非政府组织及其在跨国影响网络中的作用。 由于聋人活动、坦桑尼亚手语的独特性以及非政府组织参与的历史，坦桑尼亚成为一个有趣的研究地点。 该项目将有助于身份和社区形成、非政府组织和全球化以及聋人研究的理论讨论。 这对于针对发展中国家最弱势和边缘化人群之一聋人的宣传和政策制定等应用问题具有重要意义。