Deafness and Hearing Studies, Minor

Program Code: DHS_UMNR

PROGRAM CURRENTLY ON HOLD; NOT ACCEPTING NEW STUDENTS
Begin Date of Enrollment Hold: August 19, 2022

Program Description

This interdisciplinary minor is designed for students who want to learn about individuals with hearing disabilities, audition, and deafness within an individual and societal context. Core courses include knowledge and skills in preventing hearing loss, basic communication skills and disabilities, history, thought and culture of individuals who are deaf, and principles of human behavior and their applications. The minor will assist students in recognizing relationships among hearing disability, deafness, cultural differences and their impact on the individual in educational, social and vocational settings. Specializations include, but are not limited to, health-related fields, communications, societal and social life, cultural impact, educational experiences, prejudice and discrimination, and rehabilitation. Students will be able to place deaf culture and hearing disabilities in the proper perspective necessary for life-long learners engaged in fostering climates which embrace individuals from diverse backgrounds, especially disabilities.

The minor is most appropriate for students interested in clinical and health-related fields (e.g., nursing, biobehavioral health, or medicine), professional fields (e.g., business, pre-law, or communications), social sciences (e.g., human development and family studies, sociology, or psychology), and education (e.g., early childhood education, special education, rehabilitation counseling), as it will provide students with exposure to the range of variation in persons with hearing disabilities and deafness across the lifespan.

Students from any major (except Communication Sciences and Disorders) can declare a minor in Deafness and Hearing Studies. Students seeking advising for this minor should contact the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

What is Deafness and Hearing Studies?

Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) is the study of human communication disorders. The Deafness and Hearing Studies (DHS) Minor introduces students to the educational, societal and vocational world of individuals with hearing disabilities and deafness across the lifespan. The Deafness and Hearing Studies Minor is interdisciplinary in nature as undergraduate students will learn about communication skills, effects of loss of hearing and prevention of hearing loss, deaf culture and human behavior.

You Might Like This Program If...

  • You know you will find fulfillment in working closely with others.
  • You want to work in an educational setting.
  • You want to work in a health-related field.
  • You are interested in learning more about individuals with communication differences and disabilities.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DEAFNESS AND HEARING STUDIES

Program Requirements

Requirement Credits
Requirements for the Minor 18

Requirements for the Minor

A grade of C or better is required for all courses in the minor, as specified by Senate Policy 59-10. In addition, at least six credits of the minor must be unique from the prescribed courses required by a student's major(s).

Prescribed Courses
Prescribed Courses: Require a grade of C or better
CSD 146Introduction to Communication Sciences and Disorders3
CSD 269Deaf Culture Keystone/General Education Course3
PSYCH 100Introductory Psychology Keystone/General Education Course3
Supporting Courses and Related Areas
Supporting Courses and Related Areas: Require a grade of C or better
Select 9 credits (at least 6 credits at the 400 level) of the following: 19
Cultural Foundations of Communications
Cultural Aspects of the Mass Media
American Sign Language I
Introduction to Audiology
Anatomy and Physiology for Speech and Hearing
Acoustic Principles in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Aural Rehabilitation
An Introduction to Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Independent Studies
Individual Differences and Education Keystone/General Education Course
Introduction to Human Development and Family Studies Keystone/General Education Course
Biocultural Studies of Family Organization
Adapted Physical Education
Concepts of Health
Women's Health Issues
Introduction to Psychology of Perception Keystone/General Education Course
Advanced Social Psychology
Multicultural Psychology in America
Health Psychology
Child Psychopathology
Introduction to Rehabilitation and Human Services
Medical Aspects of Disability
Inclusive Leisure Services Keystone/General Education Course
Introductory Sociology Keystone/General Education Course
Introductory Social Psychology Keystone/General Education Course
Social Stratification
Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Inclusive Special Ed Foundations: Legal, Characteristics, Collaboration, Assessment, and Management
Evidence-Based Instruction for Elementary Students with Disabilities in Reading, Math, and Writin
Evidence-Based Methods for Teaching Secondary Students with Disabilities in Inclusive Settings
Foundations of Special Education, Etiologies, Law, and Implications for Practice
1

Some courses in this category have prerequisites that are not required in the minor.

Academic Advising

The objectives of the university's academic advising program are to help advisees identify and achieve their academic goals, to promote their intellectual discovery, and to encourage students to take advantage of both in-and out-of class educational opportunities in order that they become self-directed learners and decision makers.

Both advisers and advisees share responsibility for making the advising relationship succeed. By encouraging their advisees to become engaged in their education, to meet their educational goals, and to develop the habit of learning, advisers assume a significant educational role. The advisee's unit of enrollment will provide each advisee with a primary academic adviser, the information needed to plan the chosen program of study, and referrals to other specialized resources.

READ SENATE POLICY 32-00: ADVISING POLICY

University Park

Undergraduate Advising
308 Ford Building
University Park, PA 16802
814-865-3584
csdinfo@psu.edu
https://hhd.psu.edu/csd/undergraduate/advising-csd

Career Paths

Students in the Deafness and Hearing Studies Minor may be inspired to pursue advanced degrees in audiology, teaching of students who are deaf and hard of hearing, instruction of American Sign Language, American Sign Language interpreters, vocational rehabilitation, special education or counseling.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL CAREER OPTIONS FOR GRADUATES WITH A MINOR IN DEAFNESS AND HEARING STUDIES

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDIES

Contact

University Park

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION SCIENCES AND DISORDERS
308 Ford Building
University Park, PA 16802
814-865-3584
csdinfo@psu.edu

https://hhd.psu.edu/csd