Ricci Collins
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Ricci is an innovative and dynamic senior lecturer in British Sign Language (BSL) and Deaf Studies. He joined the University of Lancashire in 2018 with previous experience of researching into the curriculum for teaching sign languages, and after teaching in the FE sector for many years with a specific focus on learners with SEND support needs.
Ricci’s teaching remit has developed rapidly, covering a range of subjects across the BSL and Deaf Studies discipline, including the teaching of communities, cultures and identities in society. He is experienced in teaching all levels of BSL learning, and is the module leader for the Level 7 module, focussing on advanced learners of BSL.
He also has responsibility for supervising dissertation students and he has been a personal tutor for the last four years. Ricci was recently appointed as Subject Leader for BSL and Deaf Studies and he is fully committed to overseeing all aspects of the undergraduate programme to ensure the smooth transition of any future changes within the higher education sector, and a successful and enjoyable student experience.
Since joining the team, Ricci has completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice and also gained fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, Advance HE. With his commitment to learning outside the classroom, Ricci has been involved in several student exchanges and international field trips, travelling abroad with students to expose them to different sign languages.
His knowledge and understanding of other languages and cultures has led to his recent promotion to Course Leader of the MA/Pg Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting & Translation programme, where Ricci’s leadership and organisational skills continue to have a positive effect. Ricci’s academic career also continues to progress and he is currently undergoing studies towards a PhD in the sociolinguistics of sign languages.
Ricci has a keen interest in advancing technologies, and is currently involved in a project to test out sign language delivery through Proto Holo, a holographic communication and media device. He has been continually committed to innovative projects, such as the international Erasmus+ project, focussing on preservation of Deaf community artefacts in museums, and the SignTeach project, where he was involved in developing innovative ideas for the online teaching of sign language.
Through his passion for concurrent teaching and learning practices, Ricci is firmly committed to supporting students to develop employability skills in order to increase their employment potential and prepare them for the transition to employment after graduation.
- PhD in BSL Sociolinguistics, University of Lancashire, 2022-2028
- PGCert Academic Practice (Teaching and Learning), University of Lancashire, 2019-2021
- BA (Hons) Deaf Studies, University of Lancashire, 2004.
- Golden Roses Nominated Lecturer of the Year, University of Lancashire, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025
- Fellow of AdvanceHE, 2021
- Associate Fellow of Advance HE, 2019
- Ricci has a keen interest in sociolinguistics and is developing his research interests in the sociolinguistics of Deaf communities, in particular. This includes preliminary research into social sensitivity in the BSL lexicon, linguistic purism and the effects of mental imagery on signed interactions. He has a particular interest in the individual’s adaptation and modification of sign language usage in different domains. Ricci also has interest and expertise in documentation of Deaf history and preservation of sign language usage.
- He has Fellowship of Advance HE status
- He is also Chair of the Old Heathlandian Association, a school alumnus for ex-pupils of Heathlands School, where he contributes towards bringing Deaf people together to share their experiences as they journey through their adult lives
With his expertise in sociolinguistic aspects of Deaf community life and language, Ricci is currently working towards his PhD. Through this doctoral programme, Ricci aims to analyse sociolinguistically sensitive signs in British Sign Language, and the situational variation that influences their use.
Ricci is currently exploring the social, linguistic and cultural factors that influence or inhibit the use of socially sensitive signs, and how Deaf people navigate the use of sensitive vocabulary in Deaf discourses. He is paying particular attention to taboo in BSL and issued affected by linguistic purism, and is currently working on several chapters towards a forthcoming edited textbook for sign language learners.
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- Ricci’s research aims are encouraged by his involvement in the University of Lancashire’s research cluster group, Unit of Assessment 26, which will lead him eventually into the Research Excellence Framework level of academic writing and submission
- Deaf Museums Project – 2019-2022
- SignTeach Online – 2020-2023
- BSL QED (British Sign Language: Quality Embedding of the Disciplinary), culminating in the development of a website that provides a curriculum guide and resources for the study of BSL at HE level – 2005-2008
- Alongside teaching, Ricci is also involved in other academic activities, and was successful, in 2019, in working with colleagues to secure a National Lottery Heritage Fund bid to conduct some research into the Deaf community in Lancashire. This project aimed to document and preserve the lived experiences of Deaf sign language users and was run in conjunction with the British Deaf History Society, a Deaf empowerment group in Lancashire.
- SIGN10 Conference at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago, 2024
- University of Lancashire, Humanities A-Level Conference, Preston, 2023
- University of Lancashire, Humanities A-Level Conference, Preston, 2022
- University of Lancashire, Learning & Teaching Conference, Preston 2021
- 10th International Deaf Academics and Researchers Conference, online, 2021
- University of Lancashire, Learning & Teaching Conference, Preston 2020
- University of Lancashire, Learning & Teaching Conference, Preston 2019
- Deaf Culture and History Symposium by the University of Lancashire and British Deaf History Society, Preston, 2019
- European Network of Sign Language Teachers Symposium, Preston, 2019
- University of Lancashire's BSL & Deaf Studies' 25th Anniversary, Preston, 2019
- SIGN Workshop 'Cross-linguistic Sign Language Research (CSLR) at Max Planck Institution for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 2007
- Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf and Deafblind People Symposium, London, 2006
Telephone:+44 (0)1772 893049
Email: Email:Ricci Collins
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