Description: 

In March 2020, interpreter educators all over the world faced the need to quickly adapt to remote or online delivery of their curricula in response to the spread of COVID-19. We may need to continue with remote or online delivery through the rest of 2020, and possibly beyond. Remote teaching and learning, whether delivered synchronously or asynchronously, is qualitatively distinct from face-to-face teaching and learning. Many interpreter educators have had to race against the clock in their effort to design and adapt face-to-face materials and activities to continue delivering courses in remote or online mode.

The NCIHC Home for Trainers webinar team wants to explore the lessons that interpreter educators have learned during this transition. To that end, we have convened a group of interpreter educators for a roundtable-type discussion titled “Adapt, Amend, Adjust: A Panel Discussion on How Interpreter Trainers Adapted their Programs in Response to COVID-19 Restrictions” Panelists will reflect on their experiences adapting curricula, lesson plans, and learning activities, and will share their recommendations for trainers, relevant resources, and plans for the future. Time will be reserved for audience Q&A.

 About the Panelists:

Carmelina Cadena is a Maya Aketeka woman born in San Miguel Acatan, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. When she was 7 years old, Carmelina and her parents arrived in the USA fleeing the war in Guatemala. They became migrant seasonal workers, picking fruits and vegetables. Later, Carmelina graduated from high school, in 2002 was discovered by Berlitz and became a court interpreter. Her life story has been featured on Spanish Television network Univision’s morning show Despierta America and CNN Español’s -Camilo. Since 2013, Carmelina has been an active trainer of interpreters and is currently teaching an online training program for indigenous language interpreters. She speaks English, Spanish, Akateko, and Q’anjob’al.  She has 18 years’ experience interpreting. She is the founder of Mayainterpreters.com and Chabal Guatemala an online magazine written in Mayan languages.

Jaime Fatás-Cabeza MA, USCCI, CHI, is Associate Professor of the Practice and Director of the undergraduate program in healthcare and legal interpreting and translation at the Spanish and Portuguese Department at the University of Arizona, where he also teaches medical Spanish to doctors in the Emergency, Family, Internal, and Behavioral medicine departments. He is certified by CCHI (Eng/Spa) and the United States Courts (Eng/Spa). He is a commissioner with CCHI is a member of NCIHC’s Home for Trainers Webinars Work Group. Jaime is a published translator and author. He translates and interprets regularly for academic publishers, biomedical research units, and legal services.

Jennifer M. Flamboe, M.A., CHI™, is Associate Professor of Spanish and program director for the Spanish Language and Cultures and the Spanish/English Healthcare Interpretation programs. She holds an M.A. in Foreign Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with concentrations in Spanish linguistics and translation. In addition to being a nationally-certified Spanish interpreter through the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI), Jennifer has over 17 years of experience translating and interpreting in a variety of settings both domestically and internationally and has presented to groups at the local, regional, and national level on various topics relevant to her field. Jennifer is recognized as a subject matter expert (SME) and has been contracted as a consultant for trainings, skills assessments, and program evaluations.

Michon Shaw, M.S., NIC Advanced, is a full-time Interpreter Educator at the University of South Florida, her alma mater. Shaw earned her Master of Science from the University of North Florida (UNF), in ASL/English Interpreting, with a concentration in Interpreting Pedagogy. Certified as an ASL/English Interpreter in 2010 by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), she has worked in various interpreting settings. She served as the 2015-2017 Vice-Chair of RID's Interpreters & Transliterators of Color. She is co-owner of Shaws Unlimited Group, LLC and a passionate Change Agent, helping to increase the number of Black, Indigenous, and Interpreters of Color.

Tamas Farkas, B.A., is an interpreter trainer with a passion for languages. He was born in Budapest, Hungary and attended the Metropolitan State University of Denver, spending one year abroad in Switzerland studying at the University of Fribourg. After graduating with a B.A. in German and French, he spent time in San Juan, Puerto Rico learning Spanish. He worked as a medical interpreter before becoming the manager of the Interpreter Network of Spring Institute. He became a trainer for the Bridging the Gap program and then joined CCHCP in his current role as Language Access Programs Director.

 About the Moderator:

Rachel E. Herring, Ph.D., is the Program Director of the Translation and Interpreting Program at Century College (Minnesota) and is an interpreter at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. She has been involved in the NCIHC's Home for Trainers Webinar series since its inception.