My doctoral research focuses on the relationship between interpreting and spatial practices, and how this relationship impacts meaning during interpreted interactions. The context for my study was a case from interpreted theatre. The common approach to interpreted theatre performances is for the interpreters to stand off to one side, as the actors perform on stage. Less commonly, productions incorporate the interpreters on stage with the actors. I am curious about this separation between the performance on stage and the interpreters, and the impact that this separation has on the experience of the production by the actors, deaf audience members, and the interpreters.
Findings from my study reveal that this separated arrangement does influence the meaning of the performance for all three groups. I also found that the interpreters employ aspects of spatial production habits of the actors on stage in combination with spatial production habits from deaf spaces — a hybrid. “Interpreter space.”
Dissertation: McDougall Dissertation
Presentation: “Cognition and Online Course Design: Lessons from Deaf Spaces”
This presentation applied findings from my PhD research to the online learning environment, providing insights from studies of deaf geographies and cognitive psychology. ASL, with English voiceover and English captions: https://terptheatre.com/cognition-and-online-course-design/
Abstract of presentation: After more than a year adapting on-ground teaching to an online environment, reports of camera fatigue, anxiety, and other challenges to learning come from students, teachers, and researchers. Teachers commonly adopt a screen-sharing approach during live and recorded class sessions, offering students a side-by-side view of the instructor and the instruction materials (e.g., slide decks, illustrations, equations). This session examined the influence of this online visual arrangement on student learning. Through the lens of deaf space, the underlying challenges posed by the side-by-side arrangement will be identified and an integrated visual approach will be offered. Examples of methods adopted by the Sign Language Studies department at Madonna University are included, along with a discussion of the associated technical methods employed to achieve content integration.
