Dr. John Conama

John Bosco Conama is the director of the Centre for Deaf Studies (Trinity College, University of Dublin) and former chairperson of the Irish Deaf Society. He was the co-chair of the Irish Sign Language Recognition Campaign. He holds an MLitt in social policy (Trinity College Dublin) and a PhD in Equality Studies (University College Dublin). Dr Conama was involved in establishing the first certificate level course for Deaf people organised by the Equality Studies Centre, University College Dublin. He was awarded Language Ambassador of the Year 2015 by Leargas/ Erasmus + for his work on the promotion and preservation of Irish Sign Language. His recent publications have focused on Deaf people in society and social policies affecting Irish Sign Language. Dr Conama also is a member of the Disability Advisory Committee under the aegis of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

  Education and minority language   Equality law   Globalisation   Health policy   Identity politics and social change   Irish economy, problems   Irish politics, election study, electoral behaviour   Politics of the welfare state   Public Policy   Social work with minorities

Deaf Cultural Studies, Equality Studies, Media Studies, Social Policy, Deaf Education, All relating to the Deaf communities in Ireland and beyond My overarching research objective is to deepen and extend my work on the topic of language policy and planning, examining, in particular, the impact of policy and planning tools used by governments regarding the status of Irish Sign Language and other signed languages. Within this broad objective, I have commenced work in Deaf cultural studies and equality studies, with a plan to secure funding to address the clear research gap in terms of Deaf perspectives in these areas. During my teaching, I have often been struck by students' interest in cultural issues specific to Ireland. Whilst students frequently ask for primary research on this topic, there is almost none related to Ireland. Whilst lecturers in Deaf Studies have recourse to examples from other countries or other cultures, these are not sophisticated enough for intensive study of the lived experiences of the Deaf community. Work in this area will include an examination of quality of social, cultural (including access to media) and employment services as used by Deaf people, from a critical social justice perspective. Some of these research objectives will be achieved through building on the European Commission-funded projects described above, with follow-up projects in the pipeline. Peers will evaluate my research by my participation in top international projects and initiatives of strategic and social importance, the rigour and the quality of my outputs, originality, creativity and innovation in theoretical and methodological frameworks, leadership skills, collaboration and my ability to extend my networks and share experience with research students and other colleagues. My work will also be evaluated by knowledge generation and transfer, my impact on the field and on civil society, my ability to translate ideas into concepts that can be clearly understood by local communities, my productivity and capacity to deliver outputs within agreed timeframes. Finally, making my work available and accessible through the medium of Irish Sign Language as well as English is a priority in my research plans, for the benefit of the Deaf community in Ireland.