Congratulations to Marion Schmidt, Ph.D., who successfully defended her dissertation, a history of genetic deafness research in the United States during the twentieth century. Marion’s thesis explores how different professions defined deafness — as a pathology and disability, a psychological deviance, or as a socio-cultural trait — and analyzes surrounding questions of identity, culture, and treatment. In particular, she examines the oppression and reappearance of deaf people’s perspectives and their effect on notions of cultural and reproductive autonomy.