efsli2012 | conference

Call for papers

The call for papers is closed. Thanks for all the submissions! The official notification of acceptance or rejection of proposals will be made by March 29th, 2012.

Be aware!
Power and Responsibility in the field of Sign Language Interpreting

The Austrian Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ÖGSDV) is proud to host the 20th AGM and conference of the European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters (efsli) in Vienna from 14th to 16th September 2012. The theme of the conference is “Be aware! Power and Responsibility in the field of Sign Language Interpreting”.

Power is a central issue of all interpreting settings and needs to be handled responsibly. How are power and responsibility distributed among all participating agents? How do they experience and handle their power and their responsibilities? Which factors can influence this distribution or have caused shifts in the past? Which aspects of power have an impact on interpreting settings?

These and more questions will be discussed at the conference. We will explore issues of power and responsibility in the field of sign language interpreting and encourage sign language interpreters from all over Europe to share their experiences and to reflect on this important topic from various perspectives.

This ‘call for papers’ invites Deaf and hearing experts from theory and practice as well as students to submit proposals for papers to be presented at the conference. Thematic areas include (but are not limited to):

Shifts of power
Language and power
The role(s) of Deaf and hearing interpreters
Power (im)balances - rights and expectations of service users and service providers
Historical development of the profession and its influence today
Aspects of power influencing interpreting settings (status, legislations, financial and personal resources etc.)

Presentations may be either:

a) Plenary lecture-style presentations of 40 minutes (30 minute presentation, 10 minutes for questions)

b) Practical workshops of 120 minutes (including an introductory note of 20 minutes, the moderation of the workshop, the preparation of a summary presented on Sunday)

c) Poster presentations (A1 format) (an exclusive time slot will be provided)

Proposals should be submitted by 30 January 2012 and should include:

Name ofpresenter(s)
Short biography of eachpresenter (max. 100 words to be published online and in the program booklet)
Contactdetailsforcorrespondence
Title ofpresentation
Language ofpresentation
Abstract (max. 300 written words/ video of twominutes max.)
The choice of presentation (presentation, workshop, poster)

Proposals should be submitted in English in a Word document. Deaf participants may also submit their abstract in International Sign. The video format should be .mov or .flv. All proposals should be sent to abstracts2012@efsli.org (videos can be sent using http://www.sendspace.com or similar tools for sending big files).

All abstracts will be reviewed by the scientific committee (listed in alphabetical order):

· Robert Adam (Great Britain)

· Luzia Gansinger, Chair (Austria)

· Nadja Grbic (Austria)

· Thierry Haesenne (Belgium)

· Barbara Hager (Austria)

· Liivi Hollmann (Estonia)

· Christian Rathmann (Germany)

Official notification of acceptance or rejection of proposals will be made by March 29^th, 2012.

Selected presenters are required to register by April 30^th, 2012.

Full papers/PowerPoint presentations must be submitted no later than August 22^nd, 2012.

Following the conference selected presenters are expected to submit their papers for the efsli 2012 conference proceedings.

Conference languages will be English, German, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, International Sign, and Austrian Sign Language. All presenters who wish to use a different spoken or signed language will have to supply their own interpreters.

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