Stephen Smith, Associate Professor of English, is currently team-teaching a one-of-a-kind course designed by himself and three co-teachers at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, the country's premier university for deaf and hard of hearing students.

Professors Willy Conley and Jennifer Nelson from Gallaudet, Professor Peter Novak from the University of San Francisco, and Smith have created and are now teaching a course entitled "Hands-On Shakespeare: Translating Shakespeare Into American Sign Language." This course is linked to the planned production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" in Spring 2006, a co-production of Gallaudet University and Amaryllis Theatre Company/VSA arts of PA, a theatre co-founded by Smith. The play, performed simultaneously in ASL (American Sign Language) and spoken English, will be produced in Washington and then Philadelphia.