RDC 2025/2026: Graduation

A discussion of the research projects from the concluded season of the RDC Lab.

You may attend in person or join online. The event will be conducted in Russian Sign Language (RSL) and Russian, with interpretation into English and International Signs.

Those who register to attend online will receive a link to the stream one day before the event.

The fourth Researching the Deaf Community lab for Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing young people began in December 2025. Over six months of weekly meetings, participants explored the history of the Deaf community, sign language linguistics, neurolinguistics, and sociological research methods before proposing their own topics and forming collaborative research groups.

Photo: Anya Todich

This year, four projects are underway. At this meeting, participants will present their findings from surveys, interviews, and experiments, and open up their initial conclusions and emerging questions for discussion. The teams will continue their research throughout the summer, with final results to be presented at a conference next year.

We invite researchers, sociologists, members of the Deaf community, and anyone interested in Deaf culture, sign languages, and community research to join us. You will have the opportunity to ask the questions and join the discussion. We would be particularly pleased to see those who took part in the lab’s surveys.

Project team

Nikita Bolshakov — PhD, Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, HSE University.

Vlad Kolesnikov (Hard of hearing) — Curator of programmes for the Deaf community and accessibility at GES-2 House of Culture.

Olga Koroleva — Producer at GES-2 House of Culture.

Danila Chetverikov (Deaf) — Coordinator of the Researching the Deaf Community project.

Research Topics for the 2025/2026 season

The Social Experience of Deafblind People: Communication and Identity Perception

Authors
Ekaterina Belkina, Tatiana Losikhina, Margarita Sadyrina, Vasilisa Savelyeva, Anna Zueva

Tutor
Nikita Bolshakov

The Deaf Community and AI: Perception and Use of Large Language Models by Deaf and HardofHearing Individuals

Authors
Alina Babaeva, Danila Chetverikov, Anna Degtyareva, Eduard Khlyupin, Natalya Krivolapova, Alina Sadikova

Tutor

Yulia Shamsutdinova (PhD, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University)

Teacher Profiles in Specialised Schools: The Interplay of Acculturation and Working Strategies

Authors
Olga Borgoyakova, Nika Chupyatova, Alexandra Gladkova, Polina Sdobnikova, Antonina Stolyarova, Alexander Zhuravets

Tutor

Vladimir Bazoev (PhD, Senior Lecturer, Moscow State Linguistic University)

Reading Practices and Attitudes Towards Reading in the Deaf Community: Typology and Contributing Factors

Authors
Darina Kashirina, Anna Kochurova, Natalya Makarova, Varvara Merenkova, Patricia Poleshchuk, Alina Taran, Diana Vasyukova

Tutor

Valeria Vinogradova (PhD, Researcher at the Centre for Language and Brain, HSE University)