The Sign Language Studies (SLS) department at Madonna University offers a minor in American Sign Language which gives students in any major a working foundation in ASL and Deaf Culture. The department also offers bachelor's degrees in Sign Language Interpreting Studies, ASL Education, and Deaf Community Studies. This makes Madonna home to one of Michigan's most comprehensive Sign Language Studies programs.
Built for aspiring and current educators, this major prepares sudents to teach ASL as a world language in Michigan's K-12 schools, meeting the state's certification requirements for ASL educators. This program is also designed for current teachers who want to add an ASL teaching endorsement to their certification.
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A strong fit for students that are headed toward counseling, social work, or other human services careers, this program builds a foundation in ASL and Deaf culture. It is designed to pair with a second major or minor for a specialized professional skill set.
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Lindsey Wiegand ’07 was accepted into graduate school at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. after earning a degree in Sign Language Interpreting Studies from Madonna University. After graduating with her Masters of Arts in Interpreting from Gallaudet, Lindsey moved back to Michigan where she has been working as a freelance American Sign Language/English interpreter.
As a nationally certified interpreter, some of the types of interpreting settings where Lindsey works include post-secondary, K-12 education, and medical. In addition to freelance interpreting, Lindsey also presents professional development workshops and mentors novice interpreters.
Regarding her time at Madonna, Lindsey commented, “The faculty definitely made the experience special for me. They taught me so much and I am fortunate enough to have stayed in contact with them as professional peers!” She added that she feels blessed to be able to have the job that she does and is “…humbled every day that the Deaf community allows me to be a part of the most intimate moments of their lives…I love learning from the community in every interaction I have with them.”
B.A., Madonna University
M.A., Oakland University
Ph.D., Heriot-Watt University
734-432-5618, 1405
Dan McDougall, CSC, is the chair of the Sign Language Studies department. He joined the full time faculty of Madonna University in 2007. He has been a certified interpreter since 1986, specializing in shadowed interpreting for the theatre.
Dan founded TerpTheatre, and is an internationally recognized authority on interpreted theatre (see www.terptheatre.com). He has an extensive background in nonprofit program development and fundraising. He is an alumnus of the SLS department (1986), and holds an MA in Linguistics from Oakland University (1991).
The SLS department awarded him Distinguished Alumnus in 2005. He teaches in the areas of interpretation, advanced American Sign Language, and linguistics.
Jennifer Berrigan is an Assistant Professor in the Sign Language Studies department. A Michigan School for the Deaf alumni, Jennifer attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. In 2005, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. She continued for her master’s degree in Sign Language Education at Gallaudet University and graduated in 2017.
Amongst her education, she worked as an intern at Tufts University and James Madison University. She also has worked as the SLPI Coordinator for the MI Department of Education LIO. In 2015, Berrigan competed as a snowboarder at the Winter Deaflympics. Berrigan is no stranger to teaching higher education, working most recently as an ASL instructor in Arizona and Michigan.
Berrigan’s goal is to promote better communication access to foster a stronger educational based future for Deaf children.
B.S., Rochester Institute of Technology
M.S., Rochester Institute of Technology
VP: 734.237.3058, 1405
Bretagne Whitford is an Assistant Professor in the Sign Language Studies department. Bretagne went to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. and Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. In 2009, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration and Public Policy. She continued on for her master’s degree in Deaf Education, acquired in 2011.
Amongst her education, she worked in a research lab and acquired her research interest in deaf children and the familial characteristics that would have an impact on their literacy. She also takes a fascination with ASL assessments and how to accurately document an individual’s ASL proficiency. She had a paper published in 2011 titled Deaf Individuals’ Bilingual Abilities: American Sign Language Proficiency, Reading Skills, and Family Characteristics in Psychology Journal (Vol. 2, No 1, 18-32).
She takes pride teaching sign language particularly, keen to the fact that she is their Deaf role model and provides the students with the appropriate mental and language framework as they enter the Deaf community.
