Join us for this great webinar!

Location: Your home or office (online)

RID CEUs: 0.2 PS (2 hours)

Cost: $30

Language: Spoken English

             *This workshop will be presented in ASL in the future: date TBA

Workshop Description:

Politics! (Don’t be afraid.) The Interpreting Politics Series introduces interpreters to the language of American politics, with democracy and Democrats, the republic and Republicans, the election and the electoral college, constituents, primaries, the commander-in-chief, and of course, gerrymandering. In this session, we strap on our helmets and focus on PARTIES AND IDEOLOGY.  What does it mean to be “liberal” or “conservative” in the 21st Century? What are the priorities of the Democratic and Republican parties? What are the major politics issues of the day and what about political beliefs that don’t align with either major party? And maybe most vexing of all: What challenges arise when you interpret for something against your own political beliefs? There are no super-secret signs for these concepts that you just never learned; these workshops teach the meaning of political terms, and together, we discuss how we might interpret them into American Sign Language. Other sessions include THE PRESIDENT, THE CONGRESS, and THE COURT AND THE CONSTITUTION.

Educational Objectives:

The goal of this workshop is to prepare interpreters for the challenging language that appears in discussions of ideology and the major American political parties.   But language doesn't exist in a vacuum, and in order to truly interpret for meaning, one requires a deep understand of the material.  While stopping at points all along the way to develop interpreting strategies for difficult concepts, participants will:

• Understand the present-day definitions of “liberal” and “conservative” ideologies.

• Compare the priorities and belief systems of the Democratic and Republican parties

• Examine the major political issues in 2020s America.

• Interpret 20 key political terms

• Recognize the challenges of interpreting for the idiom of politics, and develop strategies

Presenter Bio:

Alek Lev

Alek Lev is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter (NIC-Master, CI, CT), a director, actor, and writer, and a political organizer. He has interpreted for three presidents, two Broadway shows, and one Beatle. Over the last twenty years, he has worked freelance in New York and Los Angeles, has taught translation at California State University at Northridge, and has presented CEU workshops to interpreters all around the country. Alek graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University with a BA in Theater and English. 

Alek trained at The National Theatre of the Deaf’s Professional Theatre School, and stage managed, interpreted, and performed on to tour with their children’s theater, The Little Theatre of the Deaf. In Los Angeles, he has worked with Deaf West Theatre, appearing in Romeo and Juliet and Flowers for Algernon, directing their Much Ado About Nothing workshop, and rehearsal interpreting for Spring Awakening, At Home at the Zoo, and American Buffalo. In 2023, Alek co-directed Victory Hall Opera’s Orpheus and Erica, a new opera performed by Deaf actors and hearing singers.

Alek wrote, directed, edited, and produced WHAT?,  a silent, black-and-white silent feature film which tells the story of a Deaf man struggling for respect in Hollywood. The investors were Deaf, the executive producers were Deaf, the cinematographer was Deaf, as was most of the cast. Also the caterer. The film was accepted to 24 film festival across 9 countries, winning 20 awards, including 4 for Best Picture, 4 for Best Actor, 3 for Best Director, and 3 Audience Awards. Then in November of 2023, Alek directed No Plans This Weekend, an entirely improvised feature comedy, currently in post-production.

As a podcast producer, Alek has created four series: Private Joke: The Official How I Met Your Mother Podcast, Talking Buster Keaton, Meeting Tom Cruise, and his current work, Arts Educators Save the World. This latest show brings together successful artists in conversation with their mentors; Season One launched with Lin-Manuel Miranda (’02) and Season Two concluded with Bradley Whitford (’81).

Alek also worked on several presidential campaigns, functioning as a campaign surrogate, congressional district team coordinator, city-wide training director, precinct captain organizer, and special project assistant to the State and Field Directors. He also ran - alas, unsuccessfully - to join his local community council.

His workshops for ASL interpreters include: A History of the English Language (And Why Interpreters Should Care); Acting Tools for Terps: A Crash Course in Sounding Human; The Language of Film: Interpreting for and about Film Production; Caffeinated Classifiers: Coffee, Espresso, and Other Reasons for Living; and the Interpreting Politics series, which includes The Congress; The President; The Courts and the Constitution; and Political Parties and Ideology.

Born and raised in New York City, Alek now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two children, and espresso machine. Check out all the goodies at www.AlekLev.com.