ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:    CASSIE LANG, ELYSSA MINEHART

Cassie Lang has been an interpreter practitioner, educator, and mentor for 17 years. She recently completed her doctoral degree in Interpretation and Translation from Gallaudet University. Cassie received her Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Minnesota. She has taught hearing and deaf students in music programs locally and in Australia, as well as interpreted in K-12 music classes. She holds generalist and legal interpreting certifications. Her research interests include situated learning in interpreter education, bias in interpreter evaluation, interpreter language ideology, and indexical identity in interaction and its influence on interpreter decision-making in local, national, and international contexts. Cassie has lived in Boston and Washington, D.C. and now makes a home in south Minneapolis.

Elyssa Minehart, born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, started playing music when she was 3 years old. Identified as Deaf at age 3, her first language is ASL, although is fully bilingual in both English and ASL.  They were involved in every school band and summer music camp from 4th grade through college. In 2015, Elyssa earned Bachelor degrees in Criminal Justice & Criminology and Chemistry from Northern Arizona University, as well as a minor in Music and Percussion Studies. After exploring their passion through internships, she landed her dream job in 2016 in the Crime Scene Sciences Unit at Washington DC’s Department of Forensic Science. She’s been there ever since, developing her specialization in Leica scanning (365 degree imaging technology), in which she regularly trains and certifies other members of her department. Elyssa lives in DC with her partner and Cavapoo dog named Bourbon. They are currently learning the ukulele as they’re expanding their musical repertoire. She enjoys attending Nationals baseball games, local musicians’ concerts, reading graphic novels, and Traeger grilling and gourmet cooking in her spare time.