When University of Virginia fourth-year student Molly Rathbun propped open the doors to Nau Hall on a rainy February morning, she wasn’t sure who would brave the weather for the event she created.
By day’s end, Rathbun’s Deaf Literature Festival had welcomed more than 80 attendees, featured six authors in the Deaf community and hosted an open mic session.
Rathbun, a psychology major with an American Sign Language and Deaf culture minor, took her first ASL course, ASL 1010, during her second year at UVA, with no prior experience with the language.
“I was just excited to meet new people from a culture different from my own,” Rathbun said, “and the UVA ASL program exceeded those expectations with welcoming classes and immediate immersion into the Deaf community.”
UVA’s ASL program builds a tight-knit community through its five-semester progression from beginner to conversational fluency, weekly practice opportunities and cultural events bringing students together beyond the classroom.
“We’re a family,” Rathbun said, praising the ASL program and its small class sizes of about 10 to 18 students per class.
Molly Rathbun:
Hi!
My name is Molly.
I am an ASL student at UVA.
I made the Deaf Literature Festival.
The program enriches students’ learning through a quarterly ASL and Deaf culture lecture series that features performers, artists and scholars – often from Gallaudet University in Washington, the nation’s only liberal arts institution for deaf and hard-of-hearing students – while also supporting DEAFS, a student organization in which Rathbun participates.
To fulfill an academic requirement, Rathbun approached ASL Program Director Greg Propp with an idea for an independent study. Drawing from her experience organizing literary events at New Dominion Bookstore and inspired by English and ASL professor Christopher Krentz’s Deaf Literature course, she proposed creating the Deaf Literature Festival.
“I thought, ‘At least she can make an outline of the event for when we really want to do something like this,’” Propp, who has been at UVA for 27 years, said. “But a part of me was saying, ‘I think she can pull this off.’”
Once Propp gave his blessing, Rathbun dove into planning. She spent the summer and fall semester of her fourth year organizing every detail of the festival, from the lineup of guest authors to coordinating logistics like securing a venue, arranging travel, budgeting and scheduling ASL interpreters.
“It’s a lot more work than you would think,” Rathbun said.
The Feb. 8 festival featured six authors from the Deaf community, including Christopher Krentz, Leah Hager Cohen, Carol Padden, Erin Moriarty, Kristen Harmon and Terry Galloway, followed by an evening of storytelling at an open mic.
Christopher Krentz, who is late deafened, is as a professor of ASL and English at the University. He was one of the six featured authors who shared their work and perspectives at the inaugural Deaf Literature Festival. (Contributed photo)
“It definitely was (a passion project),” Propp said. “It just perfectly did exactly what she wanted to combine: her interest in independent bookselling and reading with this particular group of authors.”
The more than 80 attendees enjoyed complimentary food throughout the day, culminating in the evening open mic session.
“In 30 years at UVA, I’ve never seen an undergraduate do something like this,” Krentz said. “She’s added to our efforts to make contributions of deaf people visible and compelling.”
To ensure the Deaf Literature Festival continues after she graduates, Rathbun is developing a guide to help future students plan and carry out the event.
