This study is based on six narrative interviews which I conducted with students at the University of Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia. My aim is to find out how these students are creating their identity in the environment of the university, how they look at their family structure and how Namibia´s independence in 1990 has created new opportunities for young people in contemporary Namibia. I have been using postcolonial theory and identity theories to analyse the interviews. Five of the six respondents are from the northern parts of Namibia, Ovamboland, and this area is seen as a rural area. The students have made an emotional journey from the rural areas in the north to the urban area of Windhoek and they feel that they have many new opportunities and they are willing to change Namibia into a more developed country.

I takt med att döva personer i Sverige får ökad tillgång till alla områden i samhället börjar också antalet döva högskolestudenter på olika lärosäten runtom i landet att öka. Denna studie undersöker döva universitetsstudenters upplevelser av en utbildning i samarbete med teckenspråks- eller skrivtolk och har som mål att utöka kunskapen kring detta relativt outforskade område. I detta syfte utfördes sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med döva studenter vid lärosäten i Sverige där de fick svara på frågor om bland annat sin tillgång till tolkning, sin upplevelse av tolkningen och sin känsla av inkludering i klassen. Av resultaten framgår att studenterna utnyttjar möjligheten till tolkning på ett sätt som inte alltid reflekterar deras upplevda behov av det. Studenterna ställer sig övervägande positivt till tolkarnas arbete på högskolenivå. Det framgår även att studenterna i olika grad känner sig inkluderade i sin klass, både vad gäller relationer till lärare och till andra hörande studenter. Faktorer som kan ha påverkat studenternas intervjusvar är deras upplevda hörsel, nivån på deras nuvarande utbildning och dövmedvetenheten hos de lärare de mötts av. Då studien fokuserat på många aspekter av studenternas utbildning kan det inte dras djupgående slutsatser kring varje tema som framkommit. / As Deaf people in Sweden receive increased access to all areas of society, the number of Deaf students enrolled in higher education around the country increases. This study examines the experiences of Deaf university students regarding their education in collaboration with a sign language or speech-to-text interpreter and aims to expand the knowledge around this relatively unexplored field. For this purpose, seven semi-structured interviews were held with Deaf students at universities around Sweden, in which they were asked to answer questions regarding, among other things, their access to interpreters, impression of the interpreting received and feeling of inclusion in their class. The results show that the students do not always make use of interpreters in a way that reflects their perceived need for them. The students are generally positive regarding the interpreters’ work in a higher educational setting. It is also shown that the students feel included in their classes to varying degrees, both in regard to their relationships with teachers, and with other hearing students. Factors that may have affected the students’ responses are their perceived hearing, the level of their current education and the Deaf awareness of their lecturers. As the study has focused on many different aspects of the students’ education, no in-depth conclusions can be drawn regarding each of the subject matters raised.

El siguiente estudio tiene como objetivo explorar la situación de los estudiantes con síndrome de Asperger en dos universidades suecas, concentrándonos en los estudios de lenguas extranjeras, específicamente de español. Por consiguiente, nos enfocamos solamente en las universidades que ofrecen programas de estudios vinculados a la enseñanza de lenguas. Los participantes fueron una coordinadora de apoyo pedagógico estudiantil, tres profesores universitarios de español como lengua extranjera y dos estudiantes con síndrome de Asperger. Las preguntas de la entrevista semiestructurada estuvieron dirigidas a conocer cómo afecta el SA a los estudiantes en el uso práctico de la lengua extranjera, estudios y vida social académica y en ver cómo funcionaba en la práctica el apoyo pedagógico estudiantil que se ofrece a estos estudiantes. Los resultados mostraron que el apoyo podría adaptarse más a este grupo de estudiantes, facilitándoles la interacción con los otros estudiantes con y sin SA con la ayuda de, por ejemplo, horarios más estructurados y metas explícitas en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje.