THS 2026: Symposium: Through the Hands of Signers: History of sign language emergence, transmission, and change Lipsius Cleveringaplaats 1 2311 BD Leiden Leiden, Netherlands, July 10, 2026

The Vici project Through the Hands of Signers invites everyone to participate in its kick-off symposium on the History of Sign Language Emergence, Transmission, and Change on July 10 2026.

The symposium will bring together researchers, students, and international professionals with the aim of promoting the exchange of research and experiences, as well as reflecting on sign languages from a broad historical perspective, encompassing their early records, sociolinguistic development, and contemporary uses. Discussions will address the spread and transmission of sign languages across different social, educational, religious, and sporting contexts, as well as the influence of geopolitical dynamics, institutional policies, archival sources, and technologies on their circulation, preservation, and ongoing development.

Submission Guidelines

All papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference. 

Abstracts may be submitted in English or IS. Written abstracts should be anonymised and not be longer than two pages in length (including tables, examples and references), in 12-point type, single line spacing and 2.5 cm margins. Signed abstracts should not be longer than 5 minutes and must contain an image incrustation of the references.  

To submit a signed abstract, follow these steps:

1) Send an email to handslabteam@hum.leidenuniv.nl to receive the invitation link to upload the video file to Filesender.surf.nl

2) Once the video has been uploaded, copy the download link to the PDF file

3) Submit the PDF file containing the link to the video for download 

List of Topics

We invite abstracts on the following topics:

History, politics, and global dynamics

• Geopolitical dynamics and their influence on sign language histories
• The Milan Congress and the transmission of sign languages: myths and reality

Education and linguistics

• Deaf school archives
• Old sign language and modern sign languages: what are the linguistic differences?
• Emergence of sign languages
• Spread of sign languages across the globe: background and perspectives
• Sociolinguistic factors shaping the histories of sign languages, including the impact of sign language recognition on their development
• The relevance of preserving deaf histories and sign languages

Religion, sport and technology in deaf communitie

• The contributions of deaf religious groups to the deaf community
• The role of deaf sport associations in the transmission of sign languages
• The role of technology in sign language spread, transmission and use

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to handslabteam@hum.leidenuniv.nl