From Thursday, June 20 to Friday, June 28, the UNC campus will have visitors from across the nation coming together for a professional development conference focused on their work as sign language interpreters. The Improving Rural Interpreter Skills (IRIS) Project (#H160D210006) is a five-year interpreter training grant project awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration to UNC’s American Sign Language and Interpreting Studies (ASLIS) department.

The IRIS Project envisions increasing the quantity and quality of interpreters working and living in rural settings by cultivating educational opportunities and sustainable connections that support professional growth. 

To achieve that vision, the IRIS Project has invited 75 participants to UNC for a 10-day intensive educational experience. Attendees will be inhabiting North Hall and utilizing the classroom spaces within the University Center. Conference-goers include Deaf, DeafBlind, Coda and hearing interpreters who are traveling to UNC from all regions of the United States including Alaska, Louisiana and Maine. 

These participants are afforded the unique opportunity to engage in this meaningful and dynamic in-person training that otherwise would not be available in their respective rural areas. If you are in the neighborhood and notice people using ASL, and you too are fluent in ASL, pay them a visit.

UNC-IRIS Project