Erin Moriarty Harrelson is a Deaf academic and anthropologist specializing in the study of Deaf linguistic practices, mobility, and language ideologies in transnational contexts. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Virginia, where her ethnographic research explores the interplay of sign language documentation, translanguaging, and socio-cultural dynamics within deaf communities, based on fieldwork in regional and global settings.
Early Education and Doctoral Research
Moriarty earned her B.A. in Art History and Anthropology from Smith College, followed by an M.A. in Communications in Contemporary Society from Johns Hopkins University, and then completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology at American University[1]. Her doctoral dissertation, completed in 2017, focused on documenting the experiences of deaf individuals in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, tracing their languaging practices and examining how Cambodian Sign Language was emerging through NGO initiatives[1][2].
Fulbright–National Geographic Fellowship in Cambodia (2014–2015)
In 2014, while a Ph.D. candidate, Moriarty was awarded a Fulbright–National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship, one of the first of its kind. During a nine-month fieldwork stint in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, she used video, text, photography, maps, and drawings to document the lives of deaf Cambodians as they encountered each other and engaged with Cambodian Sign Language development. Her work captured nuanced interactions—from exchanges in the bustling Russian Market to a notable meeting with Khmer Rouge survivor Youk Chhang—revealing how presence and representation of a Deaf researcher carried symbolic weight in a context where Deaf individuals often lacked educational or professional opportunities[3].
Post-doctoral Work
Following her doctorate, Moriarty held a post-doctoral appointment at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, Scotland) where she joined the MobileDeaf research project—a five-year initiative that emphasized visual anthropology and methodological innovation in Deaf-related research, with focuses including Deaf tourism and mobile languaging across cultural contexts[1][2].
In 2024 she joined the University of Virginia as an Assistant Professor of Anthropology, affiliated also with the ASL Program. Her research agenda at UVA continues to explore language ideologies' impact on Deaf communities and their languaging practices. She is currently completing an edited collection on Crip Linguistics and preparing to teach courses in Deaf Mobility Studies, Crip Linguistics, and the intersections of technology and disability[1].
Recognition and Ongoing Projects
Moriarty’s work has been recognized through prestigious funding, including the Fulbright–National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship as well as a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) award aimed at reimagining Deaf studies[1]. She continues to develop research projects that interrogate language ideologies, social mobility, and Deaf cultural formations across diverse geographic and transnational environments.
- University of Virginia. (2024). Faculty profile: Erin Moriarty Harrelson. College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia.
- MobileDeaf. (n.d.). Erin Moriarty.
- National Geographic. (2014, October 15). Erin Moriarty Harrelson: Documenting the Deaf Experience in Cambodia. National Geographic News.
- signs@HWU. (n.d.). Dr. Erin Moriarty (formerly at Heriot-Watt University).
