Franklin Jones, Jr., is a faculty lecturer at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and its Deaf Studies Program. His lived experience as a Black multigenerational Deaf gay man thus far has fueled his passion for delving deeper into BASL (Black American Sign Language) in hopes of uncovering historical roots and linguistic and cultural content on this subject. He is also a highly-sought-after speaker in the areas of educational, linguistic and cultural equity in Deaf communities with his topics covering a broad range of Black Deaf experience, ASL, deaf culture, linguistics, and pedagogy.

Although he is fourth generation Deaf in his family, he is the first in his family to pursue academia on a collegiate level. Mr. Jones graduated from the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind (SCSDB) in 2001. During his time at Gallaudet University, he earned a bachelor’s degree in ASL (American Sign Language) while double-minoring in Deaf Studies and Linguistics, graduating with The George W. Veditz Award, Outstanding Linguistics Student Award, and magna cum laude honors in 2017. Upon graduation, he was immediately offered admission into the prestigious and widely acclaimed Master in Sign Language Education (MASLED) program and graduated with his MA degree the very next year.

Again, immediately following his graduation, Mr. Jones was offered a very competitive faculty position teaching ASL with the ASL and Deaf Studies department at Gallaudet University. He taught ASL across a broad range of levels, from beginning signers to fluent signers, and to Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing students. Mr. Jones did all this while working toward his PhD degree. His dissertation research pertains to the disparity between the number of Black Deaf students who graduate high school and the number who go on to pursue higher education.

Recent News

• In Pursuit of “A Better Education” for Black Deaf Students

• BU Wheelock Welcomes New Faculty for Fall 2021