DHS Executive Committee

Margaret Aitken

Margaret was a member of a steering group, set up by the Scottish Council on Deafness, to draft a constitution, design a logo and organise an inaugural conference. When DHS was formally set up at the inaugural conference in October 2008, Margaret was elected to an interim committee and was the first DHS Convener. After a year’s break in 2015, she was elected back to the Executive Committee in 2016 and elected DHS Convener in 2017.

Ian Carmichael

Bio on way 🙂

Manjeet Cross

I am Deaf and British Sign Language user who is passionate about history. My interest was sparked on a school visit to David Livingstone’s home. This meant I could access all the information and ask questions for the first time, which had a profound impact on me. Following this I studied hard at history in school, came top of my class and hoped to go to university to study archaeology. However, in common with many Deaf British Sign Language users at the time I was discouraged from pursuing higher education so learning history became my hobby instead. I increase my knowledge and understanding by reading books about history, visiting places of interest, watching documentaries, researching and studying short courses online. I feel fortunate that my English skills enable me to do this independently, which is not the case for many in the Deaf community, which is why I am passionate about sharing my knowledge with others. I have completed my training to become a volunteer guide at the National Museum of Scotland and regularly attend British Sign Language tours of historic sites. I am also a Deaf History Scotland committee member and play a role in planning and delivering their activities. I have completed a six-month internship with Historic Environment Scotland (HES) assisting with the production of their British Sign Language plan.

John A Hay

John Hay MBE CF, Retired Senior Lecturer of Deaf Studies and BSL/English Interpreting at Wolverhampton University, first President of Deaf History International, Co-Founder of British Deaf History Society, and current Executive Member of Deaf History Scotland.
For over 30 years, he has presented papers at conferences worldwide, in addition to broadcast work. He co-ordinated the 2nd European Symposium on Deaf History (Edinburgh, 1996), and chaired the ninth Deaf History International Conference (2015). In 2006, John was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship for a study tour on Deaf Museums and Archival Centres in Europe, the USA and Canada. He was awarded an MBE in 2008 for his services to higher education and to the Deaf community.
Author of ‘175 years of Deaf Action: Benevolence to Empowerment’ (2007) and ‘Deaf Edinburgh – The Heritage Trail’ (2015)

Lilian Lawson

As Scottish Council on Deafness Director, Lilian managed a few Scottish Deaf Heritage projects: “Presenting My Past: My Firsts”, “Deaf Sporting Memories” and “Back to School: Lessons learned”. She set up and was a member of a steering group to draft a constitution, design a logo and organise an inaugural conference in Glasgow. After the inaugural conference in October 2008, an interim committee was established and Lilian was elected to this committee. She has been DHS’s treasurer since 2008 and is currently DHS’s secretary as well as treasurer.

Dr Luigi Lerose

Dr Luigi Lerose is a Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in BSL and Deaf Studies at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). He has been involved in High Education for more than 20 years. He has written several articles looking at linguistics in sign languages. He has co-wrote books for Deaf children. Dr Lerose has been a participant in many European projects over the last 2 decades. He is currently Luigi is also Chair of European Network of Sign Language Teachers (ENSLT).