The Scientific Committee

Marianna Hatzopoulou (Ph.D.) is a qualified Greek Sign Language Interpreter and has been an active member of the Greek Sign Language Interpreter Association, since 1989. She has more than 30 years of experience as a Greek Sign Language Interpreter. Since 2017 she is an efsli Board member. She earned her PhD in Sign Language Linguistics, on Greek Sign Language Acquisition from Stockholm University (2008). Since 2013 she is the program leader for the Greek Sign Language interpreters training programme of the National Federation of the Deaf. She has made numerous presentations at Greek and European conferences on deaf studies, interpreter training and bilingual education. She has publications in journals and books on education and language acquisition of the Deaf, she has written a monograph in English on Greek Sign Language Acquisition and a book in Greek on the education for the Deaf. Her research interests include Sign Language linguistics, sign bilingualism, teacher and interpreter training.

Dr Aleksandra Kalata-Zawłocka is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw, a founder and the former President of the Association of Polish Sign Language Interpreters. For more than a decade she has been actively promoting development and professionalisation of sign language interpreting in Poland. She is a researcher, author of several publications in the field of sign language interpreting, and trainer of sign language interpreters. Her current research interests include interpreting ethics and interpreting in TV settings.

Maartje De Meulder is a senior researcher at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, and Honorary Research Fellow at Heriot-Watt University. Her research interests are in sign language policy and planning, sign language technologies, family language policy, sign language interpreting studies and discourses around inclusive education. She has published in a range of different journals including Language Policy, Applied Linguistics Review, The Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Human Rights Quarterly, and Translation and Interpreting Studies, and has co-edited Innovations in Deaf Studies (Oxford University Press, 2017) and The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages (Multilingual Matters, 2019). She is currently working with Hilde Haualand and Jemina Napier on a special issue on ‘Deconstructing sign language interpreting as a social institution’, to appear in Translation and Interpreting Studies.

Dr. Christian Rathmann is Professor in Sign Language Interpreting at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin where he directs two programs: BA in Deaf Studies and MA in Sign Language Interpreting. He obtained his PhD in Linguistics at The University of Texas at Austin. His current research strands are: (a) Interpreting and Translation (with focus on mediation in employment-related settings, conference interpreting, media translation/interpreting and teamwork), (b) Languages (with focus on language planning, linguistic structures including iconic properties, International SL, language acquisition and processing and multilingualism, (c) Learning, Teaching and Assessment (with focus on comprehension, production, interaction and mediation within CEFR framework, digital skills & resources and STEM education) and (d) Deaf Communities (with focus on critical discourse, linguistic rights in deaf children and accessibility). Moreover, he is a certified interpreter and translator (German SL, IntSL, German and English) and an AIIC pre-candidate. He has been engaged in efforts of professionalization and standardization in sign language interpreting and translation in Europe.

Dr. Chrissostomos (Chriss) Papaspyrou was born in Athens in 1959. Since 1962 he is deaf. He has studied chemistry at the University of Athens and the ETH of Zurich, as well as advanced sign language linguistics at the University of Hamburg, where he acquired his Ph.D. academic degree in 1990. Since 2009 he works as Principal at the Athens High School for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. He has functioned as visiting professor and sign language linguistics project manager at the Universities of Athens, Hamburg and Nicosia. He is fluent in seven languages.

Sarah is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin. She teaches on the Bachelor in Deaf Studies programme and several postgraduate programmes offered by the Centre for Language and Communication Studies. She is currently supervising 5 PhD students and several MPhil students. Sarah is a practising Irish Sign Language/English Interpreter for the past 15 years and continues to work in variety of settings. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and has a keen interest in the psychology of the language learner; as well as learner, teacher and SLI wellbeing. Sarah is Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for her School, and sits on the Healthy Trinity Workplace Wellbeing Group. She is a member of the Council of Irish Sign Language Interpreters (CISLI), and the Register of Irish Sign Language Interpreters (RISLI). She is passionate about lifelong learning & CPD, and has recently obtained a PGCert. in Workplace Wellness.

Senior Lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences (HfH) Zürich since 1991 to present.
Former Program Director of Sign language teacher training program (GSLA-AGSA 1991-2018)
Former co-Program Director of Sign language interpreter training program ( DOLA-GSD 1992-2016)

Special interest areas:

Cultural studies including political science and international relations
Intercultural competence and Cross/Intercultural training

Born and raised in South Africa, Secondary education training in Western Canada, University training in Washington, D.C, USA; University of Alberta and Milton Keyes UK Worked in Edmonton, Alberta & Toronto, Ontario Canada and then the past 31 years in Zürich, Switzerland.

Christopher Stone is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Interpreting and Translation, at the University of Wolverhampton. His research interests include multimodal interpreter-mediated interactions, in situ or via broadcast media. He maintains an active interpreting practice and at the time of writing is the president of the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).