Module 1: Welcome to IRIS!
Why IRIS?
Access to quality interpreting services in rural areas across the country is undeniably challenging. While there are limited published empirical studies on rural interpreters and services provided, there are qualitative reports and personal testimonies attesting to the pervasive need.
Individuals in rural areas often begin interpreting out of a need for communication access in healthcare, education, religious, or employment environments. Heritage signers (e.g., individuals parented by at least one signing, deaf person), individuals who are involved with the Deaf community, or those who have taken sign language classes step up to serve (Ball, 2013; Williamson, 2015). While the needs are great and resources may be limited, rural interpreters have unique insight and valuable experiences to offer the broader interpreting field.
Since COVID-19 the demand for interpreting services provided over video has skyrocketed (Mauldin, 2022). This places rural interpreters working in various non-rural settings, with non-rural teams and a wider variety of non-rural deaf consumers. Conversely, this also means that the rural interpreter experience is no longer limited by geography. Interpreters with little to no first-hand knowledge of the rural landscape are engaging with rural entities (i.e. medical providers, law offices, social services, etc…) in rural deaf communities' cultures.
The Improving Rural Interpreter Skills (IRIS) project Links to an external site., a $2.1M, five-year interpreter training grant project awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration to the University of Northern Colorado's (UNC) American Sign Language and Interpreting Studies (ASLIS) department, aims to highlight the unique vantage point of rural interpreters and deaf communities. In this module, we provide you with framing from both the rural deaf community and rural interpreters. With those lived experiences in mind, we will explore the ways we are shifting as a profession and ideas on how we can keep pace.
Before we get started, a few definitions . . .