Shayna Svihovec (2014 Human Biology and Society BA major) is one of three Jessie Alpaugh Senior Prize winners awarded this year in the Disability Studies minor. With her project, titled “Straddling the Line Between the Deaf and Hearing Communities in a Hearing Dominated World,” she plans to add knowledge to the field of deaf and disability studies. She hopes to eliminate stigma while moving toward equality and understanding by exploring the relationship between the Deaf and hearing communities and to better understand the effects of stereotypes on individuals in each community.
Professor Christina Palmer, Vice Chair of the Institute for Society and Genetics, is Shayna’s faculty mentor on this project.