Peter S. Cook, internationally renowned American Sign Language (ASL) poet and Deaf performing artist, will join Princeton University as senior lecturer in the Program in Linguistics and the Humanities Council, effective September 1. He will be part of the expanding ASL program at the University. He will teach undergraduate courses in Princeton’s four-course ASL sequence, as well as upper level courses in his areas of specialty.
Cook joins Princeton from Columbia College Chicago, where he served as associate professor and chair of the American Sign Language Department.
In addition to teaching ASL for more than 25 years, Cook has traveled the world as a storyteller and poet. He has been featured at the National Storytelling festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, the Tales of Graz in Graz, Austria, and The Deaf Way II and the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
“Having created numerous sign language literary works and constantly pushed the boundaries of sign language, Peter Cook is indeed one of the most celebrated bards in the history of sign language literature,” said Noah Buchholz, senior lecturer in the Humanities Council and the Program in Linguistics. “With a distinguished career in ASL teaching, poetry, and storytelling, he brings a vast wealth of knowledge and experience to our ASL program as well as the wider community of the University.”
Cook holds an MA in storytelling from Eastern Tennessee State University. He has received numerous accolades for his work, including the Excellence in Teaching Award from Columbia College and the Storytelling Hall of Fame Award from the Department of Communication at Eastern Tennessee State University.
