John Bosco Conama

Assistant Professor in Deaf Studies

John Bosco Conama

Research Interests

I have an interest in equality studies, in particular in relation to Deaf Studies. I am really interested in the lived experiences of Deaf people in several contexts – ranging from historical to social. I also have an interest in language policies and how they can affect signed languages in Ireland and abroad.

Selected Publications

‘Who decides? Language education policies for Deaf children - Selected findings from a comparative analysis of Finnish and Irish policies on signed languages’ in Lorraine Leeson and Myria Vermeerbergen (eds) Working with the Deaf Community: Education, Interpreting and Mental Health. Interesource Publishing (forthcoming)
‘Human rights and the Deaf community in Ireland: A critical discussion of Irish legislation’. Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies [Anne Mullane (HSE) John Bosco Conama and Robert Fourie (UCC)] (forthcoming)
A Guide to Working with the Deaf Community: In Education, Interpreting and Mental Health. Interesource Publishing [Haaris Sheirk and Lorraine Leeson] 2012
‘Can an equality of condition for signed languages advance equality for Deaf communities?’ Engaging Theory & Action, Deaf Studies Today, Utah Valley University Press (forthcoming)
Evaluation of the Signing Information Mid-West Project, Limerick, PAUL Partnership, Limerick, 2008
‘Potential of the Centre for Deaf Studies (CDS): its role in enhancing social justice for the Deaf community: a personal observation’, Deaf Worlds, 21, (2), 2005
‘Deaf communities in Ireland and Finland: a comparative analysis’ in Patrick McDonnell (ed) Deaf Studies in Ireland: An Introduction, Colewell, UK, Douglas McLean, 2004
‘Diverse Needs of the Deaf Community’, Forum, Journal of the Irish College of General Practitioners, 21, (10), 2004
‘Poverty in the deaf community’, Poverty Today, (57), 2002, p13-

Teaching/Supervision

I am a coordinator of Bachelor in Deaf Studies programme here and I have several teaching responsibilities where I teach modules in Perspectives on Deafness, Ethics, Deaf Education, Deaf People and the Media and Working with the Deaf community. I also teach Perspectives on Deafness as an elective in the School of Nursing and as a module in the Masters of Science in Disability Studies programme.