Ethics in Conference Interpreting

Learn how to approach ethical dilemmas during onsite and remote conference interpreting assignments.

Both budding and experienced conference interpreters face unique ethical challenges, especially today. Best practices in conference interpreting evolve as a result of the extensive use of remote meeting technologies in the wake of COVID 19.

Both onsite and online events can pose ethical dilemmas for interpreters. Can you post pictures of yourself working at conferences as a way to attract new clients? Should you accept an interpreting job through a major remote simultaneous interpreting platform for a UN agency based halfway across the globe?

Join this interactive webinar to discuss the core concepts and values at the heart of the conference interpreting profession and examine the similarities––and differences––within the current context.

The speaker will present real-world sticky situations for conference interpreters and will draw extensively from the codes of conduct and professional demeanor of major professional associations such as the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) and The American Association of Language Specialists (TAALS).

This webinar was organized in collaboration with ATA’s Interpreters Division.

What will you learn?

1. Working definition of ethics in interpreting
2. Core concepts and values of conference interpreters
3. Best practices for onsite events
4. Best practices for remote events
5. Where ethics in onsite and remote events converge and diverge

Special Notes

• This webinar will use Zoom breakout rooms.
• Active participation is encouraged.

About the Presenter

Katty Kauffman is a seasoned English<>Spanish conference and court interpreter and a member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) and The American Association of Language Specialists (TAALS). She is an instructor at York University’s Master’s Program in Conference Interpreting, where she specializes in court interpreting.

Trained in Chile and the United States, her extensive conference experience includes presidential summits, general assemblies of international organizations, and countless events for the private sector. She regularly provides services in person and, more recently, online, to the U.S. Department of State, the Organization of American States, and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), among others. In the judicial field, in addition to her work as a freelancer in New York, Miami, and the Washington, DC metro area, she has served on staff at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.