Garage and the Faculty of English of Moscow State Linguistic University announce an intake of students for a program of professional development for Russian Sign Language interpreters
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Garage and the Faculty of English of Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU) are pleased to announce a strategic partnership initiated by the Museum’s Inclusive Programs department. As part of this partnership, the program of professional development “Sign Language Interpreter in an Art Institution” will be launched in February this year.
In 2017–2018, at the request from the museum community, Garage’s Inclusive Programs department monitored the provision of interpreting services in museums and cultural institutions. The research showed a lack of RSL interpreters with specialization in art, culture, and museum studies. To change the situation, Garage decided to launch a program of professional development for RSL interpreters.
The goal of the partner program is to prepare enough professional RSL interpreters with an extensive background in contemporary art theory and history, who would provide quality interpreting services for deaf and hard of hearing visitors in art museums.
Applications will be accepted between February 3 and 24, 2020. Ten successful applicants will be selected through competition.
Classes will run from March to May 2020. Participants will attend weekly lectures on the history of contemporary art and museum studies, master-classes on the adaptation of fiction texts, and practicums dedicated to RSL terms related to art. Along with university facilities, lectures and practical sessions will be held on-site—in museums, galleries, and art clusters where students will cement their knowledge through practice. The course lecturers include university teachers specializing in Cultural and Museum Studies, experts representing leading cultural institutions, practicing interpreters of sign and foreign languages, and Garage employees.
Upon completing the course, students will receive an MSLU certificate of professional development. Participation in the program is free.
Entry requirements
- Candidates must be practicing Russian Sign Language interpreters or recent MSLU graduates specializing in “Theory and Practice of Sign Language Interpreting in Intercultural Communication” with at least a B2 level in Russian Sign Language.
- Candidates should be open to new knowledge about contemporary art and museums, be eager to master communication skills facilitating interaction with the audience and interpret various public events in art institutions to Russian Sign Language.
- Completed applications will be accepted from February 3 to 24, 2020 and must be sent to deaf@garagemca.org with the subject line “Sign Language Interpreter in an Art Institution”.
About MSLU
Moscow State Linguistic University is Russia’s largest university in the field of linguistic education. 36 foreign languages are currently taught at the university where multiple centers of languages and cultures of the countries they represent are located. MSLU was also the first educational institution to begin preparing Russian Sign Language interpreters at university level. In 2012, it announced an intake of the Faculty of English
students for the program “Theory and Practice of Sign Language Interpreting in Intercultural Communication” within the Department of Linguistics. Today, the university offers bachelor’s and master’s training programs preparing Russian Sign Language interpreters, as well as programs of professional training and retraining for specialists in the field of sign languages.