Student Organizers
Hampshire College
Julia Kersten
Julia Kersten is a hearing student concentrating in psycholinguistics at Hampshire College. Learning American Sign Language has been Julia's primary influence in investigating how the human brain processes a visual language. Julia is incredibly grateful to be part of an event that shares and celebrates Deaf culture and is devoted to making this conference a tradition to the Five College Consortium.
Brianna Deane
Brianna Deane is a hearing student at Hampshire College studying public health, public policy, and violence prevention. She began studying American Sign Language out of a love for learning languages and now continues to learn American Sign Language to increase accessibility through multiple modes of communication.
UMASS Amherst
Susannah Wright
Susannah is a hearing student in her senior year at UMass Amherst. She is studying Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work and is in her fourth semester of ASL. She continues to explore Deaf culture in hopes that she can merge her experiences in order to improve and expand the accessibility of social services across communities.
Pictured from left to right: Tori Schaer, Susannah Wright, Katie Tyler, Julia Kersten, and Brianna Deane.
Mount Holyoke College
Katie Tyler
Katie Tyler is a hearing student in her senior year at Mount Holyoke College. She is majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in math. She is in her fifth semester of ASL which she started learning to have better communication with her Deaf aunt. She has continued her studies of ASL because of her love for the beauty of the language and her desire to learn more about Deaf Culture.
Smith College
Tori Schaer
Tori Schaer is a hearing student, majoring in Anthropology and Women's Studies at Smith College. Volunteering at the 2016 DEAFinitions conference inspired Tori to be on the 2017 team. Tori is in their fourth semester of ASL, which they pursue because of their passion for equity and deep respect for Deaf culture.