Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences

Research in HSLS

The Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences faculty conduct extensive research on communication access for deaf and hard of hearing people. The program has a long history of external research support from federal agencies and private foundations, including the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health. Our research is comprised of several areas of research and various labs.

Faculty Research Labs and Projects

• B/B Aural Rehabilitation Lab - Claire Bernstein and Diane Brewer
• Developmental Neurolinguistic and Cognition (DNC) Lab - Karen Garrido-Nag
• Electrophysiology of Language Foundations - Jared Carter
• Futures Articulated through Belonging, Languaging, & Expression Lab - Farha Najah Hussain 
• HearHub: Where hearing effort meets real-world hearing science - Shubhaganga Dhrruvakumar
• Signed Language Development, Disorders, and Deprivation (SL3D) Lab - James McCann
• The Nexus Lab: Where Communication Science Meets Innovation - Rakesh Veerabhadrappa
• Multicultural Research Lab - Ishara Ramkissoon
• Prosody in Language Understanding, Speech, and Hearing (PLUSH) Lab - Kara Hawthorne
• Vestibular and Balance Lab - Chizuko Tamaki

Our Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences programs have a heavy emphasis on conducting research on communication access to deaf and hard of hearing individuals. All faculty members are conducting at least one research project which provides ample opportunities for students to get involved.

AuD students (and SLP students who choose the thesis option) conduct a research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor and fulfill the research capstone requirement for graduation. Ph.D. students typically complete an in-depth research project and are encouraged to take an opportunity to present their research outcomes in a nationally recognizable conference or publish in a peer-reviewed journal, before completing the dissertation.

Students also have an opportunity to work with faculty members as research assistants, typically up to 10 hours/week (for SLP/AuD students) or 20 hours/week (for Ph.D. students).

Students have all of the following labs and research projects to get involved in.

Hearing and Speech Center

Doctoral Audiology (AuD) and Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) graduate students receive supervised hands-on training while providing client-centered care using evidence-based practices. Fields of service include audiological services, vestibular and balance assessment, speech-language assessment and treatment, and communication and habilitation (aural rehabilitation assessment and services.

Peer Mentoring Certification Program

Our Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences programs have come together to create a Peer Mentoring Certificate Program to teach deaf and hard of hearing students how to support other individuals with acquired hearing loss. The program fosters the growth and support of deaf and hard of hearing communities by teaching participants how to assess and meet the needs of the communities.