Shaping Deaf/Hearing alliances in the workshop’s temporary space: a critical ethnographic account from a hearing researcher’s perspective on the Deaf Heritage Collective

Discepoli, Marta

Abstract

The MRes thesis takes its area of research enquiry from a Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) funded project, The Deaf Heritage Collective, which aimed to create significant working relationships between Scotland’s Deaf Community and the cultural sector. The aim of the MRes is to document and critically situate the Deaf Heritage Collective project and consider its process and impact. Written from the perspective of the project coordinator, the thesis provides an insider documentation of the project and its methodology, providing an important insight into the marginalized status of Deaf heritage in Scotland. The thesis documents the project through ethnography and autoethnography and brings into focus my own positionality of outsider-insider as one that has been developing and changing over the project’s course, gaining, through the community, a deeper understanding for the need of Deaf-Hearing alliances (Ladd, 2003).

The thesis reflectively conceptualises the approach of the Deaf Heritage Collective project, which was developed through a series of workshops, designed as a unique temporary space where deaf and Deaf issues and relationships could be debated by representatives from social and cultural organisations. The thesis describes how the workshops were curated as spaces wherein participants engaged in provocative and participative design activities that extended the “social action of heritage” (Harrison 2010), through collaborative making as a mode of inquiry.

Informed by critical heritage and design’s speculative capacity, the project’s aim was to advance discussion about the content and infrastructure of Deaf heritage through collaborative design methods. Through a series of touring workshops, the project facilitated an emerging space to consider the complexity of Deaf heritage, one that transcended spoken and written English. The thesis will be of interest to both heritage researchers and practitioners interested in critical and collaborative approaches to community heritage.

Citation

Discepoli, M. Shaping Deaf/Hearing alliances in the workshop’s temporary space: a critical ethnographic account from a hearing researcher’s perspective on the Deaf Heritage Collective. (Thesis). Edinburgh Napier University

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 21, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 21, 2023
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17869/enu.2023.3175160
• Award Date: Jul 5, 2023