
Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue, NE
Fowler Hall, 409A
Washington, DC, District of Columbia 20002
Email: audrey.cooper@gallaudet.edu
Phone: 202-246-5036
Visit Audrey's Research Website
Research Disciplines: Research Interests:
signed languages and sociopolitical action, deaf community organizing, deaf leadership in disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness, inclusion of people with disabilities in humanitarian contexts
View Audrey's CVBiographical Sketch
Cooper is an Associate Professor and Program Director with Gallaudet University’s Master of Arts Program in International Development (Washington, DC). Previous anthropological research examined sign languages, education, and social change in Việt Nam from linguistic and public anthropological frameworks. From 2012-14, Cooper was a technical consultant and trainer for the World Bank-sponsored Intergenerational Deaf Education Outreach—Vietnam. Cooper also conducts research with deaf communities on Disaster Risk Reduction planning and leadership, including 2019 NEH supported multi-sited ethnographic research with deaf community organizers in Việt Nam (Cooper et al, 2021, Deaf-Led Organizations and Disaster Communication in Việt Nam: Interdisciplinary Insights for Disaster Risk Reduction Planning. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 65). Cooper has also led the development of a new interdisciplinary graduate certificate track at Gallaudet University, set to launch in Summer 2022, which is the first program of its kind to train professionals in Deaf-centered Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction.
Education
- PhD – Anthropology, with concentration in Race, Gender, and Social Justice (American University, 2011)
- MSW – Social Work (CUNY Hunter College, 1995)
- MS – Dance-Movement Therapy (CUNY Hunter College, 1995)