Professional Electives

INTP-355 Working with Deaf/Blind Community

Fall

This course is an introduction to various perspectives of the Deaf-Blind community. The focus of the course will be on the variety of communication modes and cultural norms that are discovered within the Deaf-Blind community. Students will be able to develop an understanding of the role/function of a Support Service Provider through hands-on experience and interaction with Deaf-Blind individuals.

INTP-360 Introduction to K-12 Interpreting

  Fall

This course includes an overview of the history and current status of educational interpreting throughout the United

States. Content includes the role, practices, and skills of educational interpreters in K-12 settings; communication systems; pertinent laws and regulations; resources, information, and strategies for consumer awareness and education; administrative practices and personnel structure of school systems; assessment and management of educational interpreters; and topics that concern educational interpreters.

INTP-361 Ed Interpreting: Elementary (pre-requisites INTP-360, Introduction to K-12 Interpreting)

  Spring (Starting 2026)

This course is designed to prepare students to interpret in elementary school settings.  Content will include an orientation to activities, elementary level content, sign vocabulary, language development, psycho-social development, and interpreting issues that are pertinent to elementary students.  The course addresses strategies for interpreting classroom discourse and various content areas.  Vocabulary for various elementary content areas will be introduced.  Students will simultaneously interpret English-to-ASL and ASL-to-English, elementary-level texts.

INTP-441 Healthcare Interpreting (pre-requisites INTP-315, Ethical Application with a minimum grade of C)

  Fall

This course is designed to introduce students to sign language interpreting in healthcare settings through the analytical construct of Demand-Control Schema for interpreting work. The course content includes medical terminology in English and ASL. Students will learn tools and techniques to utilize while interpreting in healthcare environments with an emphasis on interactive learning including direct exposure to healthcare settings, deaf and hard-of-hearing healthcare professionals and professional healthcare interpreters.

INTP-481 Community Interpreting

  Fall and Spring

This course will address the evolution of professionalization within the field of interpreting, as well as explore various aspects of working in the community and the dynamics surrounding community involvement. This course is highly interactive, highlighting a variety of guest presenter and panelists from the Rochester community. Topics of discussion are: working with Deaf professionals, working with Deaf interpreters, business practices, professional supervision and Video Relay Service (VRS) settings. Within these major topics, discussion will include discretionary practices, ethical decision-making, current standards and community connections and resources. The objective is to guide students in traversing the dialectic, rather than eliciting right or wrong answers that simply reflect the rhetoric of the interpreting field. (3rd or 4th year status in Program).

INTP-340 Interpreting Frozen Texts

  Spring (every other year)

This course will focus on skills and techniques for the interpretation of frozen and literary texts. Work includes translation and interpretation between English and ASL. Source English texts used in this course are the: National Anthems of USA and Canada; Lord's Prayer; Pledge of Allegiance; children's songs and poetry; patriotic songs; religious songs and prayer; AA 12 steps and 12 traditions; holiday songs; and selected poetry.

INTP-451 Mental Health Interpreting (pre-requisites INTP-315, Ethical Application with a minimum grade of C)

  Spring

This course is designed to introduce students to the field of mental health interpreting. Students will become familiar with the DSM-IV and common types of mental illness as well as psychiatric terminology in both English and ASL. Students will examine the role, function, ethics, and challenges of interpreting in mental health settings through the analytical construct of Demand- Control Schema for interpreting work. Students will also learn tools and techniques to utilize while interpreting in psychiatric environments and will have opportunities to interact with mental health professionals.

INTP-491 Introduction Video Relay Remote Interpreting

  Spring

This course is a knowledge/skills-based course that examines interpreting via distance technology including video relay and video remote interpreting. Lessons present both information and skill building activities to increase competence in video interpreting. The purpose of the course is to present factors that influence interpreting competence via distance technology and to increase interpreting competence as it applies to distance technology. In this course, students will learn federal regulations related to the VRS (Video Relay Service) industry, conversation management techniques in both ASL and English, and hearing phone norms versus Deaf video phone norms. In addition, other topics and activities will include interpreting for phone trees and recordings, ad hoc teaming, and how to apply the Demand Control Schema to the VRS/VRI setting.