Prof. Ulrike Zeshan is emeritus professor of sign language linguistics at the University of Lancashire in the UK and Adjunct Professor at Amrita CREATE, Amritapuri Campus.
Previously co-director of the International Institute for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies at her UK university, she now lives at Shikha Ecovillage in rural Odisha and acts as academic guide to the co-located Happy Hands School for the Deaf.
Prof Zeshan has over 25 years of experience researching Indian Sign Language and supporting the deaf community in India, as well as working on other sign languages around the world. Her main interests include sign language typology, sign bilingual deaf education, creative alternatives to mainstream education, gamification of learning and research, and transdisciplinarity.
Prof Zeshan is also a director at Ishara Press in the UK, a social enterprise specialising in multimedia gamified publishing and sign language-related publications. She is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and has been awarded an honorary OBE in the Queen’s Honours scheme.