Andrew R. Bottoms

Andrew R. Bottoms serves as Senior Lecturer and Program Director of Deaf Studies at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, where he shapes curriculum innovation and community engagement.

He previously co-founded Harvard University’s American Sign Language program, serving as Preceptor in the Department of Linguistics from 2016, where he led development of the ASL curriculum and played a key role in Harvard’s decision to recognize ASL as eligible for its Language Citation, the first time in Harvard’s history a sign language earned that distinction. He has also taught ASL at MIT periodically.

A second-generation Deaf individual raised in North Carolina, Bottoms brings a deeply rooted, personal commitment to ensuring Deaf children have full access to language and education. With over a decade of experience, he pushes the field beyond traditional frameworks, championing ASL literature, storytelling, and Deaf-centered pedagogy. He holds bachelor’s degrees in ASL and Deaf Studies and a master’s in Sign Language Teaching from Gallaudet University, and has connected with Deaf communities across all six inhabited continents.

At BU, he built and leads a portfolio of courses, from ASL children’s literature to social justice in Deaf communities, and founded the Deaf World Lecture Series. Handpicked by Dean David J. Chard for Wheelock’s Undergraduate Program Task Force, his work today centers on ASL storytelling, Deaf folklore, and community-based scholarship, bridging academia and the Deaf community. He is co-author, with Megan Malzkuhn, of Hearing Knows Best (endaudism.com).

Pronouns: he/him