Lecture: 2 hours/week
Seminar: 2 hours/week
Methods of instruction for this course will include some or all of the following:
- lecture/seminar
- small group work
- guest speakers
- course readings/video
Course content will be guided by research, empirical knowledge, professional standards and best practice.
Wellness and self-care
- Strategies and routines for maintaining physical health
- Techniques and habits for maintaining mental health
- Managing stress, time management, organizational skills
- Making effective plans and setting realistic goals
- Establishing a personal support network
Emotional labour of interpreting work
- Potential for burnout, vicarious trauma
- Maintaining appropriate personal/professional boundaries
- Balancing professional role and social participation in the Deaf community
Interpreters as business practitioners
- Contrasting public and private sector work
- Employers, agencies, systems
- Understanding the marketplace for contract and freelance interpreting work
- Basic practices for a self-employed interpreter (business terms, invoicing, accounting, taxes, self-promotion)
The interpreting community of practice
- Participating, benefiting and contributing as a new practitioner
- Fostering mentoring relationships and peer support
- Working collegially to effect positive change
- Addressing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate ability to integrate wellness strategies into daily life;
- set realistic goals for one’s own personal health, growth and development;
- identify the factors that impact the emotional labour of interpreting work;
- recognize potential causes and indicators of burnout;
- define vicarious trauma and discuss strategies to deal with it;
- examine the characteristics of work in the public sector versus the private sector;
- describe the systems and agencies in BC that employ and/or contract with interpreters;
- produce a list of business terms and a sample invoice for use as a freelance interpreter;
- produce a one-page resume and cover letter for use when applying for an interpreter position;
- devise strategies for seeking mentorship and ongoing peer support and;
- describe plans to participate in and contribute to the interpreting community of practice.
Evaluation is consistent with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. It will be based on a combination of individual and group work, and at the instructor’s discretion may include presentations, written assignments, papers, quizzes and/or exams.
This is a letter graded course.
Coursepack purchase may be required; check with Douglas College bookstore.