Fall 2023

From the desk of Dr. Beaty

Fall 2023 has rapidly come upon us! We had a great summer preparing for this semester.

We have been streamlinging our curriculum and really have a great system going to make sure that our language learning classes are making the largest impact for the time we have.

Our interns are out making waves in the community and we have been getting great feedback, go Trojan Professionals! We want to say a special thank you to Communications Plus+ for sponsoring Intern Badges for our students to wear when they are observing working interpreters.

SLK has been hard at work, as has the artistic class preparing for See-A-Song, and the DeafBlind interpreting students preparing for DeafBlind camp.

ASL I & II went well online this summer, so ASL II is happening in a virtual platform again this Fall, we are working out some of the details, but we are excited about the opportunity to grow the reach of our fantastic instructors.

Always here if you need me or any of the faculty or staff!

Kindly,

Dr. Meagan Beaty

P.S. Be sure to reach out to one or both of our familiar Graduate Assistants! The college has the honor of having 2 GAs that are IEP alumni! Stephanie Ott, NIC and Ashley Beaty, NIC are joining us while they pursue their Master's Degree in Rehabilitation for the Blind: Orientation and Mobility. Congratulations to them, can't wait to see the work they do with this specialization!

Fall 2023 Recap

Career Expo Success!

On September 27th, the Sign Language Klub and Interpreter Education Program held the first Career Expo directed towards students in our program. We had several organizations show up for our students so that they could gather information for what career opportunities are available with a degree in Interpretation.

A big thank you to:

Sigma Lambda Kappa (Sign Language Klub)

Arkansas Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf

Specialized Interpreting Services

Little Creek Behavioral Services

Sign Language Interpreting Network

Arkansas Interpreter Licensure Board

Communications Plus +

Arkansas Rehabilitation Services

National Association of Interpreters in Education

Special Olympics of Arkansas

Communicating Hands

UA Little Rock Career Services

Make your plans to attend a tour in the near future. It will be the first Sunday of each month at 2 PM. Thinking that “once I have visited, I do not need to do so again” is misleading as the display of art in the museum changes regularly.

What you see today may be different in two months.

Come and enjoy often!

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) is collaborating with the UA Little Rock Interpreter Education Program (IEP) to provide communication access for guided tours. The first Sunday of each month at 2 PM, docents provide an interpreted tour of the AMFA at no cost. The IEP schedules the certified interpreters for the tours and invites students of the program to join the Deaf Community and observe and participate in the process and interaction of the Deaf Community throughout the tour.

The residents of Little Rock, Arkansas voted in 2016 to sponsor a hotel tax where portions of the funds were ear-marked for the renovations of the Arkansas Arts Center, a collection of eight buildings that seemed to be unrelated and disconnected.

In 2021 the temporary closure of the Arkansas Arts Center allowed for the redesign led by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Studio Gang created a design to join all the buildings together in a very open concept, with natural lighting enhancing the structure, inside and out. When the museum reopened its doors late Summer 2023, it did so with a name change to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.

Chris Revelle, Director of Community Engagement, reached out to the IEP to see how AMFA may become a regular place to visit by individuals of the Deaf Community. This challenge was accepted by the IEP and coordination of interpreters to be available monthly and allow students to observe and interpret began in September.

The initial interpreted tour was well attended by approximately 15 members of the Deaf Community and approximately ten students from the program. October proved to be a smaller crowd but well attended and allowed for more interaction between the Deaf Community and the docent guiding the tour.

Zach Krause, SLK President's Report

With the school year in full swing, SLK is excited to report on what we have done since the start of the semester, as well as what we have planned for the rest of this year!

The new officers that were elected for this term are as follows:

Zach Krause - President

Octavia Lydic - Vice President

Carrie Fleming - Treasurer

Sita Ledbetter - Member at Large

Sabrina Horton - Secretary

Congratulations Officers!

Since the start of this term, one of our biggest focuses has been reaching out to students that are newly entering the program and providing them with the tools they need to be successful both in the program and in the community. Bridging the gap between the upper and lower level courses is something we are very passionate about. We believe that by creating events and programs designed to build connections within the student base, we will not only increase the membership of SLK but also help foster a lasting sense of community within the program. Connections within the student base are not our only focus this year, as our other big goal is to help bridge the gap between new students and the community at large. It can be daunting as a new student with limited language skills to have the courage to put themselves out there to interact with and integrate themselves into the community.

In order to make these goals a reality, we have several recurring biweekly and monthly events as well as a few larger scale one-time events planned for this year. One of the latter such events is the quickly approaching career fair, where we have invited the various organizations that make up the interpreting, Deaf, and DeafBlind community to come meet the students and share what their organizations are all about with students new and old. Another event to be on the lookout for in the future is our bingo night fundraiser, raising funds for the Barbara E. Northup scholarship. For regularly scheduled events we have our biweekly meetings, monthly on-campus silent lunches, and off-campus silent dinners.

EvonBlack 10.14.2023 Workshop.pdf.pdf

ADBC Retreat 2023

2023 Sign-A-Palooza

Dr. Byron Bridges

CEUs On The Go

Dr. Byron Bridges Address IEP Classes

By Ray James

Dr. Byron Bridges, CDI and author of training materials related to ASL and interpreting addressed the students of the IEP November 2, 2023. Dr. Bridges addressed the work of Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDI) throughout the community and the available resources for individuals to receive training to become a CDI.

The practice of CDIs began in 1995 in a variety of settings. It does require working in tandem with a hearing interpreter. Many CDIs are needed in the courts, mental health facilities or other areas where the individual struggles with language. CDIs experience being called for a “language issue” only to find out that the person has language, but is from another country, thus the need for an interpreter for that country is necessary.

Dr. Bridges talked about how CDIs often are requested to do text translation for applications, mail and other written documents necessary for an individual to complete their business. Mirror interpreting is another means that CDIs work which often happens in large meetings or conferences. CDIs are often requested for DeafBlind interpreting. Dr. Bridges did state that because a Deaf person holds a CDI does not mean they can provide interpretation for DeafBlind. It is not an “automatic” skill set for CDIs.

Some research and publications of Dr. Byron Bridges addresses the use of classifiers, mouth morphemes, nonverbal communication and ASL idioms. For more information regarding training or research offered by Dr. Bridges, you may visit the following website:

https://ceusonthego.com/teacher/byron-bridges/?doing_wp_cron=1698928613.9025220870971679687500

OSEP Grant News

October 1, 2023 began the third year of the OSEP grant. Notification of full funding was received mid-September with the approval of roll-over funds remaining from year two.

Currently the grant is funding eleven scholars from the Junior and Senior levels and is supporting the positions of two peer lab assistants and one language tutor. The grant supplies funding for Deaf actors to work with simulations for students to obtain hands-on practice in live settings.

The program has been a recipient of OSEP funding for over thirty years and hopes to keep this tradition alive as long as the US Department of Education makes these funds available.

For more information, contact:

Raphael James, PI/Project Director
rajames@ualr.edu