The primary purpose of this course is to support student interpreters by helping them develop some of the general cognitive and affective abilities that underlie interpreting. These include the ability to focus, sustain, and shift one’s attention, to be at once alert and relaxed, and to handle internal distractors like performance anxiety and self-criticism.

The course, however, is open to all MIIS students. It does not involve any interpreting-like tasks, but rather builds these abilities through practice at simply paying attention in the present moment on purpose and non-judgmentally.