Draft:Matt Andersen
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Last edited by 76.198.26.56 (talk | contribs) 0 seconds ago. (Update) |
| Nationality | Canadian-born American |
|---|---|
| Alam mater | Rochester Institute of Technology (B.S.) Gallaudet University (M.A) |
| Occupation | ASL Professor at the University of Chicago |
| Known for | Deaf performer/dancer, ASL advocacy, and serving on the ASLTA board. |
Matthew Paul Andersen is a professor of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at the University of Chicago and a member of the deaf community.[1] He is an emerging and influential figure in American Sign Language (ASL) education, serving as both an advocate and a researcher. He is known for his work with the American Sign Language Teachers Association, a national-level organization, for which he has served on the board since 2023.[2]
Biography
[edit]Matt was born to deaf parents in Ontario, Canada with three Deaf siblings, and attended the Robarts School for the Deaf (London, ON) and the Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf (Milton, ON)[3]. Later, he attended Gallaudet University from 2000 to 2002, where he aimed to become an art therapist. He decided to put his studies on hold due to three significant, life-changing experiences: two murders on the Gallaudet University campus, 9/11, and coming out as a gay man. He was also passionate about becoming a Deaf performer and dancer, so he took a two-year break from school to join the all-Deaf male dance troupe, the Wild Zappers, with whom he traveled across the U.S. and around the globe.[4] At the end of 2004, Matt enrolled at the Rochester Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communications with minors in Advertising and Public Relations. In 2008, he moved to Chicago with his partner. Later, in 2016 he was invited by Peter Cook to teach a couple of ASL classes at Columbia College Chicago. In 2018, he returned to Gallaudet to receive his master's degree in Sign Language Education. Soon after, he began working at Columbia as an Assistant Professor in the ASL Department, where he taught ASL interpreting students for total of nine years (2016-2025).[5]
He is currently an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Linguistics Department at the University of Chicago, and a doctoral candidate in Deaf Studies and Deaf Education at Lamar University (Beaumont, TX)
Matt and his husband still live in Chicago, Illinois.
Works
[edit]Matt's work is heavily involved in the American Sign Language field, including director of ASL for actors and interpreters, higher education professor, researcher, presenter and consultant.
Deaf and Queer
[edit]His earliest work on the topic is a presentation during Columbia College Chicago's Silent Retreat in spring of 2017. He worked with Nate Blair (Certified ASL Interpreter and college professor) to discuss on how to support ASL interpreting students to be more able to discuss different Queer-related topics through ASL and translating and facilitating cultures between ASL and English. He gave a similar presentation in 2023, but focusing on self-censorship and vocabulary development which he emphasized the importance of being a well rounded person with knowledge in multiple areas in our everyday life.
In 2023, Matt decided to expand his focus to ASL and interpreting teachers by giving a presentation "Queering Your ASL Curriculum" at ASL Teachers Association's National Professional Development Conference to promote awareness on the importance of Queer representation in ASL classrooms. In 2025, he have given the same presentation twice more to ASLTA's members and followers.
In April 2025, after his "Queering Your ASL Curriculum" he was invited to work with Deaf Studies researchers, Dr. Michael Skyer and Leah Oakes from University of Tennessee Knoxville, to publish a brief on Queerness and Deafness with Oxford University Press.
Technology Integration in Deaf and ASL Education
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