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Here is a suggestion. I wrote lots of papers on ASL literature - such as comparing the oral traditional stories of the slaves to the oral (not as in speaking but as in telling a story from one generation to another) traditional stories in ASL. There were a lot of striking similiarities between the those two styles of oral literature. For example, in most traditional slave narratives, the stories start out as - I was born a slave (or I was born as a free man)...in ASL, the stories start out as I was born deaf (or I was born hearing but became deaf because...). I think this paper was eventually published, but I'm not for sure.
Or you can discuss the life of deaf and hearing people during the time that deaf culture was flourishing at Martha's Vineyard and compare it to nowdays. You might even bring up the topic about retirement community homes for deaf people, which is in a crisis in many states. The story of Martha's Vineyard is my all time favorite topic because I find it so interesting.
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