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Bryan Eldredge

Faculty Member

Dr. Bryan Eldredge

Biography

Bryan Eldredge is the Chair of the Department of Languages and Cultures and tenured Professor of Deaf Studies. He earned his A.S. degree at UVU when it was called UVCC. He earned his B.A. in English and M.A. in linguistics, both from Brigham Young University.

Bryan earned his Ph.D. in linguistic anthropology from The University of Iowa. His dissertation dealt with the formation and perpetuation of Deaf-World Identities in Utah County's Deaf community. It was named the Best Dissertation in Iowa's Anthropology Department for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 academic years. He was also awarded the Graduate Dean's Distinguished Dissertation Award. Bryan transformed the dissertation into a book, My Mother Made Me Deaf_ Discourse and Identity in a Deaf Community (Gallaudet University Press).

Bryan is the architect of the ASL & Deaf Studies Program, having taken over in 1998 when the program consisted of three courses taught to 100 students. Today the program offers three B.A. degree options and a minor. He directed the ASL & Deaf Studies Program for a total of 17 years before he was able to hand it off to a Deaf coordinator.

Bryan made his mark on the field of Deaf Studies in 2004 when he co-founded Deaf Studies Today!, a biennial academic conference along with his colleague Minnie Mae Wilding-Diaz. Deaf Studies Today! became the largest and most significant conference of its kind in the world. The conference, held at UVU, draws participants from all over the world. In addition to academic paper presentations and keynote addresses, Deaf Studies Today! features a concurrent International Deaf Film Festival, a professional art show featuring Deaf View Image Art (De’VIA), programs for local Deaf children and their parents, programs for hearing ASL students from around the state, an exposition, live artistic performances, workshops on a variety of topics and training for interpreters.

Bryan taught ASL and Deaf Studies at Brigham Young University (BYU) and The University of Iowa before coming to UVU. Bryan’s research interests also include the role of discourse in the perpetuation of the Deaf-World, language ideology, Peircean semiotics, language and gender, and language politics, particularly as it relates to Deaf Educational policies and practices. Bryan has a strong personal connection to the Deaf-World as his wife, Julie, is Deaf.

Teaching

ANTH 3000

Language and Culture, Spring 2025

LANG 3000

Language and Culture, Spring 2025

ASL 4800

Recent Trends in Deaf Studies Theory, Spring 2025

Presentations

Eldredge, Bryan (Co-Author), Krause, James (Co-Author), Ballard, Michael (Co-Author), Gilbert, Devin , Utah Foreign Language Association Conference, "Reimagining and Redesigning the Language Lab", Utah Foreign Language Association, UVU. (February 15, 2024)

Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award

Utah Foreign Language Association - February 15, 2024

"Awarded to Utah world language educators who through their careers have shown dedication to their students, their craft and the teaching profession." (https://ufla.net/Awards/Grants.html)

Faculty of the Year

Department of Languages and Cultures - April 28, 2023

At our end-of year department awards banquet, I was surprised to receive an award for Faculty of the Year from our department. The faculty and our admin managed to not even let me know I had been nominated. They gave two awards, so I had no reason to suspect that I would be awarded. I was deeply honored.

Dean's Award of Excellence for Faculty Service

CHSS - April 12, 2023

From the CHSS Website (https://www.uvu.edu/facsenate/awards.html):

"The purpose of the Faculty Senate Faculty Excellence Award is to recognize full-time and adjunct faculty who have made significant contributions to UVU's mission through demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service. Through this award, UVU intends_

"1. To publicly acknowledge the achievements of its faculty members in creating an academically engaged environment at UVU.

"2. To demonstrate to the community the exemplary standards of academic professionalism to which the faculty members of UVU are dedicated;

"3. To encourage faculty within UVU to pursue the highest levels of excellence in every aspect of their work (consistent with the best of academic traditions)."