Melissa O'Neal - U.S. Student to Ireland
Field: Deaf Education
Home Institution: University of Arizona, Tucson
Host Institution: Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College, Dublin
Grant Dates: 2004-2005
Fulbright U.S. Student Melissa O'Neal with her students' photographs
Melissa O’Neal, a U.S. Fulbright Student at the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College in Ireland, organized a photographic exhibition for deaf children. The title of the Show “Hear I Am” signifies the photographic voice of the children attending the Schools for the Deaf in Cabra, Dublin.
O’Neal said about the exhibition “…[It] presents chosen self-portraits that the students have created during four months of learning to use a camera and photographing who they are literally and symbolically. Photography can be a tool that fills the gaps and creates an outlet of expression without the need for any verbal or signed language. The photographs become a language of their own, telling a story, expressing emotions and, as a result, breaking down the language barriers.”
To the U.S.-Ireland Fulbright Program