Another social responsibility project has taken place under the umbrella of the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Community Involvement Centre. For the 3rd of December which is the International Day of Disabled Persons, The Genesis IMC Agency operating under the supervision of EMU Department of Public Relations and Advertising Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl Kemal Kaya, with the coordination of research assistant Mürüde Özen organized a “Sign Language Awareness” seminar with volunteer students.
Cyprus Hearing and Speech Impaired Foundation Education Representative Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah Soykan was speaker at the seminar which took place at the Communication Faculty, FCMS 011 Hall on Monday, the 2nd of December 2019. The seminar touched upon the development and importance of sign language. Asst. Prof. Dr. Soykan noted that sign language isn’t universal and shows differences according to regions and cultures like spoken language. Indicating that everyone should know sign language in order to be able to communicate with hearing and speech impaired individuals, Asst. Prof. Dr. Soykan highlighted the importance of showing unity, solidarity and cooperation in educational, health related, professional, cultural, sporting, legal, artistic and social issues.
At the end of the seminar, EMU Public Relations and Advertising Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl Kemal Kaya thanked Asst. Prof. Dr. Soykan for providing the prospective communication professionals with information about how they can communicate with hearing and speech impaired individuals. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kaya concluded by stating: “We must unite to reduce the factors that make life difficult for disabled individuals.” Students who attended the seminar then made an “I Love You” sign and took a photo.
