Melissa Malzkuhn is an American deaf advocate and founder of Motion Light Lab at

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...

. She was a 2018

Obama Fellow The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president), ...

Early life and education

Malzkuhn was born Deaf, and is the third generation in her family to be deaf. She grew up in a family where everyone could communicate with

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

. Her father enjoyed storytelling, and encouraged the children in the family to tell stories with signs. She is originally from Fremont, California. Malzkuhn completed an MFA degree in visual narrative at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

in New York City in 2015. She earned a master's degree from Gallaudet University in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 2009.

Career

Within the Motion Light Lab, Malzkuhn uses motion-capture tools to create "signing avatars" used in interactive digital apps for deaf children. The Motion Light Lab is a hub within the Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2) at Gallaudet University, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Malzkuhn's story, ''The Baobab'', is for young children and is a bilingual story presented in both English and American Sign Language. ''The Baobab'' is part of the VL2 Storybook App series, which is designed, managed, and co-created by Malzkuhn. A review in the ''Journal of Education'' in 2016 recognized the appeal of ''The Baobab'' to children "whether Deaf or hearing", calling it a "well-crafted tale" well suited for instruction and creative inspiration, with a bilingual glossary that is "both intriguing and informative". When schools closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Motion Light Lab team released one VL2 Storybook App available for free each week. Malzkuhn helped to launch the ''Deaf Studies Digital Journal'', and served as managing editor and co-executive editor. In 2022, Malkuhn's artwork was displayed as part of the "Exploring Deaf Geographies" exhibit at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Publications

* Herzig, Melissa and Malzkuhn, Melissa (2015). "Bilingual Storybook Apps: An Interactive Reading Experience for Children". ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

.'' pp. 40–44. * Malzkuhn, Melissa (2016). "The Role of the NAD in the American Eugenics Movement". ''NADmag'' 16(1):28–33.

References

External links

*, PBS News House, January 31, 2019 *, March 6, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Malzkuhn, Melissa Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Deaf activists American activists with disabilities Gallaudet University faculty School of Visual Arts alumni 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers Organization founders Gallaudet University alumni