Organizing Dialogue, Experience and Knowledge for Complex Problem-Solving

Latest: the old-fashioned way

by • November 2nd, 2005

I guess it will really only become “old-fashioned” if the model actually changes, but I was struck by the normalcy with which a group today operated on auto-pilot.
I’ve been working in a setting where I move around constantly, putting my body (as the interpreter) where the speech (spoken language) is coming from. Sure, this means people notice me more often, but you know what? It means they’re actually paying attention to the communication process! I had felt that some things were different, were going “better” somehow, but I wasn’t sure why. Today, going into a different situation where folks are using the traditional model, I was able to identify some of the differences.

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Latest: “my” people!

by • November 1st, 2005

You wouldn’t know it by my frequent (cough, cough) appearances at meetings, but the Vermont Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf is my professional “home”. My roots are in Indiana . . .
I’ve had some exposure to “Demand-Control Schema” but have already put the workshop by Lynette into the calendar. Hope I can pull it off when the time draws near… If I’m still in the country in May I’ll attend the community forum.

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Latest: Peace Village

by • October 30th, 2005

Someone I met at David’s presentation on “speech about hate speech” in Hungary suggested that this organization, the Brahma Kumaris routinely offer simultaneous interpreting in several languages. I can’t find any evidence of such at the site in New York, but the one in at Mt. Abu in Indiaseems promising.
A lead for some day, maybe. 🙂

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Latest: same name, different person?

by • October 30th, 2005

Funny – googled myself (as if I have nothing better to do this morning), and found this poem by another “Stephanie Kent”. Reinforces the importance of that middle “Jo”!
there’s also an alias making loads of bucks (listed by Forbes). envy?
Here’s one I hadn’t come across before, about the disableism workshop Shemaya and I did at Mt Holyoke a few years back.

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Latest: EP abstract

by • October 30th, 2005

Well. I have two different full-length papers in mind, a couple of short “journalistic” pieces, and somehow I imagine the four of these will come together at some point in the future. In the meantime, this is my best attempt at encapsulating what the discursive data from my 100 hours (!) of interview data with interpreters at Parliament will enable me to say:

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Latest: EU Charter

by • October 29th, 2005

There is a commonplace within the European Community that any citizen has the right to stand for office. It is codified in the (foundering?) EU Charter as such, however no explicit mention is made of the right/freedom to speak one’s own language there…
That’s to be found in Rule 138 of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, regarding General Rules for the Conduct of Sittings:

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Latest: “non-monologic unity”

by • October 28th, 2005

This would be Mikhail Bakhtin, and somehow I’m going to make it clear that interpreters make this happen. Google could only find one reference to this idea, in a paper on the possibilities/problems of cybercommunity/ies, Digital Waco.
Here’s what Morson & Emerson say in their intellectual biography, Creation of a Prosaics:

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Latest: interruptions, logic, skill

by • October 27th, 2005

Have had a series of events and conversations recently that merged in my brain earlier today – let’s see if I can reconstruct the way they seemed to go together.
1st – a recent conversation about a workshop on saying “no” – when should interpreters turn down work? It’s been reconfirmed for me that one factor is clearly CONTENT. If you are not familiar with gay history, don’t take a job that features someone discussing this history! Or, if you can’t imagine the act of teaching, interpreting a training seminar for teachers probably isn’t your thing.
It’s not a question of language production or reception, if you lack the contextual knowledge it’s just a real stretch to be able to produce an interpretation that makes sense. Most of us can’t do it, regardless of how smooth our ASL might be.

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Latest: all about FLOW

by • October 15th, 2005

Well, here’s a conference customed designed for me and the Deaf/Interpreter stuff I’ve been working on for ages! Arresting the Flow is even in the neighborhood, at Northeastern this upcoming April.
thanks Barry for posting it to AoIR!

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Latest: I oughta go

by • October 5th, 2005

to this conference in NY city on Human Rights and the Humanities. October 21 & 22. Friday and Saturday. All day. Bet it would help me a lot with the EuroParl interpreting project …

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