German Studies PhD student Richmond Embeywa has been awarded a Graduate Fellowship from the National Center for Interpretation for the academic year 2020/2021. The fellowship will support a project that explores the potential for translation and other forms of language mediation for supporting individuals with a refugee-background who are enrolled in community-based language and literacy classes in Tucson.
Embeywa said of the project, “What excites me is the possible positive impact it can have on the social and economic lives of the participants. If people are able to see the potential of language mediation in developing both literacy and agency among language minorities, linguistic diversity can then be celebrated instead of being treated as a liability.”
Richmond Embeywa will be returning to the University of Arizona after spending a year at the University of Leipzig, where he is conducting initial research related to his dissertation project on the teaching of culture in orientation courses for refugees living in Germany.