PAM COLLINS, PH.D.

Dr. Collins has been a member of the Department of Interpretation and Translation at Gallaudet University since 2011, initially as an adjunct instructor and recently as a member of faculty since 2017. She is a native of Washington, D.C. who began her interpreting studies at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Collins earned an AS in Interpreting from Catonsville Community College ’03, BA in American Sign Language ’07, and MS in Administration and Supervision from Gallaudet University ‘09. A University Honors graduate, She contributed “Capturing the Moment,” an unprecedented collection of videotaped biographical interviews of Deaf people of color over the age of fifty in an electronic archive. Further contributing to African Deaf and Interpreting Studies, Dr. Collins captured biographical interviews of interpreters of color. Interested in the study of larger systems behind everyday life, She addresses both national and international audiences on topics related to race, culture, equality, inclusion, diversity, and their impacts on the field of interpreting with such titles as “Getting Out of Your Zip Code,” “What’s In Your Bag,” and "Bringing Scheduling Into View: A Look at the Business of Sign Language Interpreting.” Dr. Collins has interpreted professionally since 2000 as a staff interpreter with Sign Language Associates (SLA) and most recently as a staff interpreter for Gallaudet Interpreting Services (GIS). Her experience as a presenter, sign language interpreter, interpreter manager, and interpreter liaison informed her dissertation topic, “An Institutional Ethnographic Investigation of the Regulation and Organization of Interpreter Scheduling.” Dr. Collins co-authored “The Complexities of Interpreting” for the edited volume International Sign: Linguistic, Usage, and Status Issues and submitted for publication, “The ASL-English Interpreter-scheduler Interface.”