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Bio in ASL

About

Wink, PhD, NIC Master, is an interpreter, educator, and researcher with over sixteen years of professional instruction and research in the field of interpretation. He has presented at national conferences, including the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), and across the United States and Canada. His focus is on the intersection of skill development, practice, and theory in interpretation, highlighted by his workshops and a published article on deliberate practice in the Winter 2012 issue of RID Views. He has also served on the Certification Council for RID, held a board position with the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT), and received the NAD Outstanding Service to Interpreting Award in 2016. As of 2023, Wink has delivered over 2,800 hours of live CEU professional development training.

Currently a faculty member in the Department of Interpretation and Translation at Gallaudet University, Wink engages with undergraduate and graduate students, fostering a deeper understanding of interpretation and encouraging graduate students to become change agents in the field. In 2025 he completed his PhD in linguistics at Gallaudet University, his research explores the embodied motivations of imagery in depiction and the processes through which they are constructed. His academic work centering on interpreting and translation, focuses on message analysis within a cognitive linguistic framework and the role of depiction in interpretation. His approach redefines traditional notions of expansion and equivalence, offering a more nuanced perspective, while his exploration of depiction provides interpreters with a structured framework for effectively conveying meaning.

With nineteen years of professional interpreting and translation experience, Wink has developed translated tours for the U.S. Capitol and the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas. Outside of academics and interpreting, Wink enjoys crafting ASL stories on and off the stage for his cat’s amusement.

Currently Teaching

INT-595G Special Topics Credits: 1-3
INT-736 Professional Practice I Credits: 3
INT-749 Professional Practice II Credits: 3
INT-223 Interactive Discourse Analysis Credits: 3
INT-595U Special Topics Credits: 1-3
  • Modeling Visual Language in the Classroom (2024/01)
  • How Accurate Are You? (2024/01)
  • Space Walk: Tracking and Using Depictive Space in ASL (2024/01)
  • What Linguistics has Taught Me as an Interpreter. (2024/01)
  • Rethinking Classifiers (Again): Dividing the Parts and Learning How to Build Them (2024/01)
  • 2016 NAD Outstanding Service to Interpreting Award
  • 2016 Outstanding Drama
  • 2021 Certificate of Appreciation For outstanding service in interpretation.
    • Iconically Foregrounded and Backgrounded Units in Signed Language Grammars
    • A Cognitive Grammar View on Depictive Expressions in ASL
    • Blockbuster: Cinematic ASL
    • You Can’t Beat Talent, Actually Did You Know? 
  • Gallaudet Travel Research Fund- (Gallaudet University )
  • Atlas Rideout-Department of Interpretation and Translation (Honors) 2023/02
  • Bernkrant, Pamela. - Interpreting Studies, Western Oregon University (Masters Committee) 2022/01-2022/01
  • Advisor to CODAdet 2023/02
  • Certification Council Member : Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf 2013/02-2016/01
  • Licensure Committee: Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf 2011/02-2016/01
  • Director of Communications and Technology : Conference of Interpreter Trainers 2012/02-2015/01
  • 50th Anniversary Conference Celebration Committee : Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf 2012/01-2012/03
  • Parliamentarian (later Vice President): Oklahoma RID Chapter 2008/02-2010/01
  • Interpreting Assessment Tool: SLRS 2023/01
  • Pro Bono interpreting services 2004/02
  • 2024 August Professional Development Week: Washington DC, District of Columbia 2024/01-2024/01
  • Complex Language Structure in ASL conversations.: Online 2024/01-2024/01
  • Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf: 2006-Ongoing
  • Conference of Interpreter Trainers: 2010-Ongoing
  • National Black Deaf Advocates : 2012-Ongoing
  • Potomac Chapter of Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf : 2015-Ongoing
  • International Cognitive Linguistics Association: 2015-Ongoing
  • Sign Language Linguistics Society: 2016-Ongoing
  • Mano a Mano : 2017-Ongoing
  • Contact Me

    Wink Smith

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