Photo Courtesy of York University
Dr. Jenelle Rouse made history in 2020 as the first known Black Deaf woman to earn a doctorate’s degree in Canada, Black News reported.
Rouse attended the University of Western Ontario, where she earned her Doctor of Philosophy. As an educator, Rouse dedicated herself for years to teaching deaf children sign language strictly because she believed it was important.
She enrolled in and completed York University’s Deaf and Hard Hearing Teacher Education Program in 2008. In 2016, Rouse attended the University of West Ontario and achieved her Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics in Education. Four years later, she obtained her Ph.D.
Now, Rouse is a Canadian applied linguistics researcher and a body-movement dance artist, where stories are told through contemporary body movements she taught herself.
“This is beyond proof of anything possible to break the stigma/stereotype that people think Black Deaf person can’t do anything, especially the education,” Rouse’s friend, Abigail Danquah, wrote on Facebook. “She can do it, then you can do it anything is possible when dream will come true.”
She concluded the post with, “Do not let anyone tell you that you can’t do the goals of what you dream of become your future!”
Not only does Rouse advocate for deaf children learning sign language, but she also calls for more people (deaf or not) to learn sign language. Rouse doesn’t limit ASL to communicating with other people who are deaf, but she also brings ASL to theater performances she participates in.
According to Described and Captioned Media Program, there are currently about 20 Black deaf scholars. The additional Black Deaf individuals with doctorate degrees are Dr. Alesia Allen, Dr. Opeoluwa Sotonwa, Dr. Onudeah Nicolarakis, Dr. Rezenet Moges-Riedel, and Dr. Slemo Warigon.
The first Black Deaf woman in the U.S. to earn her doctorate degree is Shirley Allen. She received her Ph.D. in education from the University of Rochester in 1992. Prior to that, she attended Gallaudet University to earn her Bachelor’s degree and Howard University for her Master’s degree.