by Jafar Ahmad October 14 is the first day of Muharram (محرم), the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar, where most of Iraq is swathed in black as the Shia, members of one of the two main Islamic sects, mark the beginning of the commemoration of Ashura. Ashura itself is the name of the […]
News
Final-year BSL students at the Scottish Parliament
Reflections from a teacher by Stacey Webb, Assistant Professor in Sign Language Studies It is not every day you get to bring your classroom to the real world. So often we try to bring the real world to the classroom and it just never replicates real life! Recently we listened and practised interpreting a graduation […]
Progression 2015: A two-day celebration of Deaf Arts
by Michael Richardson Only ten days into my Ph.D. research programme, exploring the engagement of the Deaf community and the use of British Sign Language (BSL) in theatre, I was fortunate to be able to attend a two day conference in Glasgow celebrating Deaf Arts and the progress made in that arena over the last decade. […]
De Perdidos, Al Río
by Calum O’Donnell, 4th year student in LINCS Going to Heriot-Watt University was one of the better decisions I’ve made with regards to my academic career. Perhaps the best decision, however, was choosing Interpretation and Translation, a subject that presented the opportunity to experience life abroad. In August 2013 I embarked on a journey that […]
17th September 2015: A momentous day for the BSL Community
by Graham Turner On a most extraordinary afternoon last week (17th September 2015, a date to be remembered), it seemed that half of Heriot-Watt’s Department of Languages & Intercultural Studies re-located to the Scottish Parliament for a few hours. Why? It was the Stage 3 (final) reading in the chamber of the British Sign Language […]
WASLI 2015 Istanbul: The conference
by Jill Gallacher, Virginia Dugo-Marmalejo and Jude Caldwell We were fortunate to receive funding from the Heriot Watt Alumni fund to attend the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters conference in Istanbul as it was seen as an opportunity that was too great to miss. As interpreting students, we were not sure what to expect, but having […]
Aahh, the holidays… (?)
June to September: Three long months with nothing to do, because there’s no teaching. So we lock up our offices with a “Back in September” sign and fly off to exotic places, or we stay here and catch up with our neglected hobbies of baking, knitting and gardening. Aahhh… If only that were true. Here’s […]
Mental health interpreting – considering some of the challenges
By Yvonne Waddell Work in mental health settings is often unique from other settings the community interpreter works in. When we consider that language is the principal investigative and therapeutic tool in psychiatry, (Farooq & Fear 104: 2003) the interpreting process will have a direct impact on the way that therapeutic tool is applied. As […]
As If We Weren't There
by Jonathan Downie Neutrality has often been touted as one of the cornerstones of interpreting ethics. The general view seemed to be that interpreters should be so good that the multilingual event would run as if everyone spoke the same language. In other words, it should be as if we weren’t even there. Now, I have […]
Hearing Loss or Deaf Gain? At the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas
On Saturday 8th August, Jemina Napier and Noel O’Connell engaged in a heated debate on “Hearing Loss or Deaf Gain?” at the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas. We’ve asked two members of LINCS, Heather Mole, a PhD student who is part of the BSL team, and Olwyn Alexander, Director of Academic English, to review the show. Heather […]