Hello!
Would double majoring in ASL and theatre be a good idea? What career options are in this and is it a “safe” choice?
Why not?
There are hundreds, even thousands of career options. Most people with majors in theaters probably work in jobs that aren’t related to theater on face. They may use some of the skills and principles that they learned, but they’re unlikely to be actors or theater techs. What do you want to do? What do you like to do?
ASL is a good skill to have in general.
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Certainly a major plus a minor would be practical. There may be a few schools where you could double-major, if it were a BA (not BFA) theater program at a school that also has a substantial deaf studies program, but finding a school that would meet all those parameters could be tricky, unless you go all-in and apply to Gallaudet.
Have you looked at RIT? They have a large population of deaf students, and their Technical Institute for the Deaf offers both an ASL major, and a performing arts (including theater) minor that is open to both deaf and hearing students. The College of Arts & Sciences also offers a Theater Arts minor.
The thing about majoring in ASL is that interpreting takes years and years of training and yet often pays terribly and offers unreliable hours with no benefits. It has become very much a “gig economy” field, and it’s increasingly being encroached upon by technology which is cheaper, if inferior, to live/in-person interpreting. It’s a “calling” that is needed in the world, for sure; but it’s important to know what to expect career-wise. Which is to say that I don’t think interpreting alone, as a career path, is the kind of “safe choice” you have in mind. [My personal editorial comment would be that our society is moving more and more toward exploiting the passion of people with a “calling” - in many different realms - rather than valuing and rewarding same.] Going on to a grad program in education or speech language pathology might be a way to utilize your ASL/deaf studies education in the context of a more secure career; and a theater background could be a great enhancement. RIT has a deaf education masters program as well.
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