The University of Rochester with its comprehensive undergraduate program in sign language studies and faculty interested in comparative studies of sign languages around the world, was a natural environment for the development of Nihon Shuwa (Japanese Sign Language) curricula. The cross-linguistic interests of the community sparked interest in the learning of this natural sign language and provided the impetus for the offering of Nihon Shuwa for credit at the university for the first time in 1997.The University of Rochester has demonstrated by this pioneering work that Nihon Shuwa is a rich language worthy of serious linguistic inquiry. This paper chronicles the events which led to the development and ultimate establishment of the Nihon Shuwa curricula at the university. Then this paper presents the rationale for such a program of courses and outlines the steps taken to guarantee its successful integration into the course offerings.
While the curriculum includes language, culture and literary courses on Nihon Shuwa, the rest of the paper describes the interesting aspects of the processes of developing curricula for the introductory language courses. The benefits of teaching Nihon Shuwa have been more extensive than originally imagined. The dynamics of offering a course where both American and Japanese students participate in learning more about not only Deaf culture and its language, but Japanese culture and its language as well, has resulted in creating an environment of self-awareness, mutual understanding and respect for other cultures and languages. Students have broadened their understanding of their own culture by looking through a different lens at the similarities and differences between American, Japanese and Japanese Deaf cultures. This experience has heightened awareness and appreciation for diversity so needed in this global community.
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