An Introduction to my Thesis

 Hello! My name is Caitlin McCabe and I'm double-majoring in Museum Studies and History with an immersion in ASL/Deaf Culture. My thesis focuses on museum accessibility and intends to examine the current industry perspective on accessibility by comparing it to the DeafSpace movement. DeafSpace is an architectural philosophy that was founded at Gallaudet University in 2005 and is both a descriptive analysis and a prescriptive guide for the design of physical space used by d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing (d/D/HH) people. The five principles of DeafSpace - Space and Proximity, Sensory Reach, Mobility and Proximity, Light and Color, and Acoustics and EMI - contextualize how d/D/HH, both signers and non-signers, understand and navigate the space around them. DeafSpace approaches design from the perspective of disabled people and accessibility as first principles and I am interested in seeing how museums can change their approach to and struggles with accessibility through this approach. I am conducting three case studies that I feel exemplify a range of relationships with accessibility and the Deaf community. Dyer Arts Center is a small, free to access art gallery that showcases Deaf artists and is located in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, so it is by and for the Deaf community. The Memorial Art Gallery is a mid-sized museum in Rochester that serves its large Deaf community, but is not necessarily for Deaf people. The Boston Museum of Science is located in a large city and serves its diverse greater metropolitan area but has recently published detailed research on how they can serve their d/D/HH constituency. At this point, I have one exhibit assessment under my belt (the Boston MOS) and am looking forward to my other two assessments. The end is in sight!