Michele Bishop, PhD

Adjunct,
Comparative Linguistics:ASL and English, Sociolinguistics, Ethics, Spanish, American Sign Language

By appointment
Emeritus
Santa Rosa

MBishop@santarosa.edu
Moodle Profile

Schedule

• Monday
     9:00AM - 10:30AM Engl 25 Section 0817 EMERITUS 1614
     11:00PM - 1:00PM ASL 1 Section 0066 EMERITUS 1599
  
  
• Wednesday
     9:00AM - 10:30AM Engl 25 Section 0817 EMERITUS 1614
     11:00PM - 1:00PM ASL 1 Section 0066 EMERITUS 1599
  

Classes

• Section 4831 of ENGL 25: Introduction to Language Study -- Spring 2013
  
  
• Section 7628 of ASL 1: Elementary American Sign Language - Part 1 -- Spring 2013 -- Class homepage not accessible at this time
  
  
• Section 8889 of ENGL 1A: College Composition -- Spring 2013
  
  

Biography

I have arrived here in Santa Rosa after living most of my life in New York City. I spent five years in Washington D.C. In Washington, I received my MA/PhD in Linguistics from Gallaudet University. Gallaudet is the only liberal arts college for deaf students in the world. Although I am not deaf, I have been learning American Sign Language since 1995. It has been an ongoing challenge to learn ASL because of the complex nature of the language. Of all the languages I have studied, ASL is truly the hardest!

Most of my career has been spent teaching Spanish to high school students in New York City. One of the perks of teaching (among many) was to coordinate trips to foreign countries. It was so satisfying to watch my students finally move beyond their textbook learning of Spanish and explore the thrill of using a language in real life situations. I enjoyed observing their discovery that language study in school is just an appetizer for a full course linguistic adventure in life.

I have always loved languages for the simple reason that to learn them and to use them often requires one to travel and meet many kinds of people, something I enjoy tremendously. My life has been enriched by extended stays in Colombia, Brazil and Italy, giving me first hand opportunities to learn and practice Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. I can no longer imagine my life without travel outside the United States. Every day in another country is filled with many unexpected surprises and countless adventures.

I consider my move to Santa Rosa to be an adventure, even though I am still in the United States...smile...and I am looking forward to meeting other faculty and to getting to know my students each semester.

Education

Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.
Ph.D., Linguistics, May 2006
Concentration: Discourse Analysis, Sociolinguistics, Bimodal Bilingualism
Dissertation title: “Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Users of American Sign
Language
Dissertation Committee: Drs. Ceil Lucas, Chair, Susan Mather, Paul Dudis, Kendall King,
and Paul Preston.

Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.
M.A., Linguistics. May 2003
Concentration: ASL linguistics

Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.
One-semester of study while on sabbatical from teaching
Liberal Arts (19 credits)

New York University, N.Y., N.Y.
M.A., Spanish and Portuguese, May 1992
Concentration: Comparative Literature

S.U.N.Y at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
B.A., Spanish and Political Science. May 1978

Academic Experience

Adjunct: Department of Modern Languages, Department of American Sign Language, Department of English - Spanish, Introduction to Language Study, Ethics for Deaf and Hearing Interpreters, Comparative Linguistics - ASL/English, Santa Rosa Junior College (Spring 2006 to present)

Adjunct: Department of American Sign Language, Napa Valley College - beginning and intermediate levels of ASL (January 2010 to present)

Adjunct: Department of American Sign Language, Berkeley City College - Comparative Linguistics: ASL and English August 2009 to present)

Adjunct: Education Department, Linguistics Department, Gallaudet University
(Fall of September 2001 to spring of 2005)

Department of Linguistics, Gallaudet University, September 2003 to present
Linguistics 101, Spring 2005, Fall 2004, Spring 2003, Fall 2003

Department of Deaf Education, Gallaudet University, September 2001-2003
New Teachers Practicum Supervisor, Fall 2001
Introduction to Education, Spring 2002, Fall 2002

Port Richmond High School, Staten Island, New York, 1983-2001
Spanish teacher, ASL teacher and coordinator of Travel Abroad programs.

Centro-Cultural Anglo-Americano, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1979-1981
ESL teacher for a private school

El Sena - Medellin, Colombia, 1976-1977
ESL teacher for a private school

Work and Consulting Experience

3/2000: Trained labor assistant through A.L.A.C.E.
(Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators)
Labor assistant for Deaf women

1/1995 to present: Freelance ASL Interpreter
(Part-time interpreting in medical and educational settings)

9/1984 to 6/2001: Spanish and ASL Teacher
Port Richmond High School

9/1982 to 2001: Licensed Massage Therapist
(New York State license)

2/1982 to 8/1982: Medical Massage Therapist
Hospital da Andarai
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

5/1980 to 1/1982: Spanish and Portuguese Translator
The Fuji Bank, Ltd.
One World Trade Center
New York, NY

2/1980 to 12/1980: English Teacher
Centro Cultural Anglo-Americano
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

10/1979 to 2/1980: Stock Manager
H. Stern Jewelers
51st and 5th Avenue
New York, NY

6/1979 to 10/1979: Immigration Officer
U.S. Department of Justice
Immigration Department

9/1976 to 6/1977: Volunteer in family planning clinic
Pro Familia
Medellin, Colombia

91976 to 5/1977: English Teacher
El Sena
Medellin, Colombia

2/1974 to 6/1974: News Assistant
Wall Street Journal
New York, NY

Professional Areas of Interest

Bilingualism in hearing native users of American Sign Language: this topic examines how hearing, native signers of ASL combine elements of ASL and English in simultaneous utterances. The data pose unique challenges to code-switching models based on spoken language sets and will inform many areas of linguistic research such as sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, and co-speech gesture. The results of this work is a dissertation entitled "Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing, Native Signers" - successfully defended in April of 2006.

Presentations and Publications

PUBLICATIONS

Bishop, M., Hicks, S. 2005. Orange Eyes: Bimodal bilingualism in hearing adult users of American Sign Language. Sign Language Studies, Vol. 5. Issue 2. Washington, D.C. Gallaudet University Press.

Bishop, M., S. Hicks, A. Bertone, and R. Sala. 2006. Capitalizing on Simultaneity: features of bimodal bilingualism in hearing Italian native signers. C. Lucas (ed.), In Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities Vol. 12. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Bishop, M., S. Hicks. (2008). Features of Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Signers of America Sign Language. M. Bishop, S. Hicks (eds.), In Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities Vol. 14. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.

EDITED BOOKS

M. Bishop and S. Hicks. 2008. (eds.). (2008) Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities, Vol.14. Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.


PAPERS IN PROCEEDINGS

Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Signers of American Sign Language. Presented at the High Desert Linguistics Society (HDLS-6) on November 4-6, 2004. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.


INVITED TALKS/WORKSHOPS

Bishop, Michele and Sherry Hicks. (October 2004). Communication and Language: Hearing Children with Deaf Parents (Comunicazione e Linguaggio: Essere Figlio Udente di Genitori Sordi). Universita Cattolica Aula Magna, Brescia, Italy.

Bishop, Michele (June 2004). Communication modes between deaf and hearing siblings with deaf parents. Research presentation. Centro Nazionale di Ricerca (National Research Center). Rome, Italy. Presented in Italian.


CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Bishop, Michele, Sherry Hicks. (April 2008). Features of Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Signers. Panel presentation. Sociolinguistics Symposium 17. University of Utrecht, Amsterdam Holland.

Bishop, Michele. (June 2007). Features of Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Signers. Panel presentation. International Symposium of Bilingualism. University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

Bishop, Michele, Sherry Hicks. (July 2006). Features of Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Signers. Panel presentation. Sociolinguistics Symposium 16. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.

Bishop, Michele (April 2005). Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Signers of ASL. Paper presentation. Symposium about Language and Society XIV. (April 2006). University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.

Bishop, Michele (November 2004). Features of bimodal bilingualism in hearing native signers. Paper presentation. High Desert Linguistics Society (HDLS-6). University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Bishop, Michele, Sherry. Hicks. (April 2004). Bimodal Bilingualism in Hearing Native Users of American Sign Language. Poster presentation. Sociolinguistics Symposium 15. University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Honors and Awards

Small Grants Award – 2005
Gallaudet University
Washington, D.C.

Language Learning Grant – 2005
University of Michigan

Fulbright Award – 2004
Italian Fulbright Commission
Rome, Italy

Small Grants Award – 2004
Gallaudet University
Washington, D.C.

Dean’s Scholarship Award – 2003
Gallaudet University
Washington, D.C.

Outstanding Teacher Award – 1996
Port Richmond High School
New York City

Humanities Teacher Institute Scholarship - 1988 and 1992
Port Richmond High School
New York City

Multinational and Comparative Education Scholarship – 1989
Port Richmond High School
Salamanca, Spain