*Online* West Midlands Presents….Akbar Sikder: Will Ethnic Diversity Change Interpreting?

The West Midlands region is very pleased to welcome Akbar Sikder to deliver this evening’s webinar:

Those who work in the sign language interpreting profession may have observed that interpreters are not very ethnically diverse, with the majority of interpreters being of white British ethnicity and coming from hearing families. This is despite

considerable ethnic diversity among the general UK population and within the

deaf community. How does ethnic homogeneity in a profession that works with

ethnically diverse service users affect our practice?

This webinar will discuss 3 key themes:

1) How do we ‘broker’ culture between the majority and minority cultures, and how does this impact power dynamics?

2) How does ‘social similarity’, and experiences of growing up in a minority community, affect perceptions of self and other, our decision-making and our role?

3) What are the limitations of a ‘bilingual-bicultural’ framework for understanding our work with ethnically and culturally diverse service users?

The webinar will conclude with a discussion on recommendations for the profession.

Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link, the password will be sent nearer the date.

We look forward to seeing you on 11th August at 7pm,

Layne, Liz, Ruth and Vicki