Janna Sweenie

Janna Sweenie, M.A., is a pioneering author and educator specializing in American Sign Language instruction and Deaf culture studies. In 2002, she achieved a "Superior Plus" rating on the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview, the highest level of ASL certification.

For more than half a century, Janna has taught, tutored, and written about Deaf Culture and American Sign Language. Her work spans university education, vocational rehabilitation, Broadway interpretation, opera accessibility, and published scholarship. She has served as faculty at New York University, LaGuardia Community College, Montclair State University, the College of New Rochelle, and the Lexington School for the Deaf.

For the last 22 years, Janna has been a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the Deaf with the State of New York Department of Education's ACCES-VR program, helping Deaf individuals achieve their employment goals.

Janna has been teaching American Sign Language at New York University for over 35 years, beginning in 1991. In 2014, she created the ASL Level 5 course and taught the first class in 2015, making NYU the first major university with an ASL program to offer instruction at that level. She is a two-time recipient of the NYU Steinhardt School Applied Psychology Department Administrator Award.

From 2017 to 2020, Janna served as Program Coordinator for American Sign Language in the NYU Department of Applied Psychology. Under her leadership, the ASL program expanded dramatically in scope, influence, and stature. She created and wrote all syllabi for all levels of ASL, establishing a "Universal Cycle of Learning" across the curriculum, and invented the grading rubric used for all ASL courses.

In the Spring 2023 semester, Janna made history as the first dual Tutorial instructor for NYU Gallatin, teaching "Black Sign Language" and "Deafness in Performance." In the Fall 2023 semester, Janna was the first Deaf NYU adjunct instructor to advise an Independent Study project focusing on Deaf Culture in American Sign Language, Level 5.