Alma Bournazian
Instructor
Alma Bournazian is the oldest child of a fourth generation Deaf family. She has nine brothers and sisters, half of whom are Deaf. After graduating from the American School for the Deaf, Alma attended Gallaudet College. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology. Alma went to Western Maryland College and graduated with her masters in Teaching American Sign Language.
Alma began teaching at Northeastern University as adjunct faculty in 1984 and became a permanent addition to the ASL program in 1992, Alma teaches a wide variety of A.S.L., and Deaf Community related classes. It was through her teaching at Northeastern that Alma received the nickname "ASL Cop". In addition to teaching, Alma is a freelance Deaf interpreter. She has Certified Deaf Interpreter-Provisional (CDI-P) certification through the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). She passed the Deaf-Blind screening evaluation in 1987. Alma also completed the Deaf Interpreter program held at Northeastern through the Interpreter Education Project. She has been a leader in the Deaf-Blind Community for over 20 years, and an S.S.P. Coordinating Supervisor for many of their events. Alma has also been a lecturerss for ASLTA. For Northeastern, Alma is the head evaluator for the evaluation screening which is given to transfer students or freshman students with sign experience. She has also lectured extensively on a wide variety of Deaf culture, Deaf community and American Sign Language related topics. She is a member of Mass RID, National-RID, AADB, Mass-ASLTA, DBCC, National-ASLTA, Mass-ASD Treasurer, Committee member for the Annual George W. Veditz A.S.L. Festival, and member of the NUDAW committee for Northeastern. She is the first Deaf person in the state of Massachusetts to hold Professional Certification through national ASLTA.