MAMI Director Brown Is Davis Fellow at Middlebury College,
Immersed in Advanced Russian Studies for Summer Semester

UTICA, July 5, 2010 – Cornelia Brown, Ph. D., executive director of MAMI Interpreters, began a summer immersion fellowship in advanced Russian studies at Middlebury College Language Schools in Vermont on June 28.

 She was selected for the 2010 Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace as a working professional promoting conflict resolution; specifically, leading an initiative to train court interpreters across Central New York through the not-for-profit MAMI. Fluent in Russian, Brown decided to take the New York State court interpreter exams herself to gain better insight into the preparation needed to prepare others to be court interpreters, and is using the Davis fellowship at Middlebury to improve her oral use of Russian grammar and idiom. She has passed the NY State written exam and plans to take the state oral exam.

MAMI Community Coordinator Mary Stronach has been named interim executive director for the duration of Brown’s sabbatical.

 Russian, the language Brown is studying, is only one of about 40 languages needed in Central New York courts and other legal settings such as domestic violence and child protection. MAMI has been developing a two-part court interpreting course to prepare interpreters to take the state exams, said Stronach, who herself passed the state written exam in Spanish.

 Noted Brown: “By taking the state exams and actually interpreting in legal settings, MAMI’s leaders can best develop curriculum, teach court interpreting, and help legal professionals use and appreciate interpreter services.”

With offices in Utica and Syracuse, MAMI provides interpreting and translating for health, legal and community agencies. MAMI also offers ESL (English as second language) classes in specialty areas and culturally mediated seminars for limited-English populations.

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