This is our rhythm: academic becoming and realignment in deaf space

Deaf scholars have long worked at the margins of academic institutions not designed for them. Designated deaf academic spaces—where deaf ways of knowing, teaching, and communicating are centered—remain rare. This study explores what becomes possible when such a space exists, presenting Dr Deaf as a case study. Drawing on interviews with participants and teachers, we show how deaf epistemologies and pedagogies are enacted through cross-stage responsibility and academic becoming through re-alignment of deaf participants and teachers. We also identify a distinct deaf rhythm that emerges in this space. At the same time, we recognize that these practices are not experienced or valued equally by all participants and teachers: needs, priorities, and ways of engaging differ, and Dr Deaf’s approaches may not resonate for all. Yet its values offer a flexible framework for imagining and sustaining other deaf academic and broader educational spaces.