PROVO — Susan Easton Black addresses her audiences at Campus Education Week in impeccable suits and, usually, high, high heels.

And like her fashion sense, to many LDS faithful, her voice is unmistakable. While thousands at Brigham Young University's Education Week will hear the church history professor's voice live, a global audience will hear her address through interpreters. Organizers say that 12 of the 1,097 courses at the annual campus event will be broadcast around the world.

"Though we have 20,000 plus who attend on campus, we know there are tens of thousands who have interest but are unable to attend," said Neil Carlile, director of BYU's Campus Education Week, which starts Monday and runs until Friday.

BYU started broadcasting segments of Education Week in the United States and Canada some 10 years ago. They've just recently started broadcasting overseas.

"This is really a needed lifeline in my life," wrote one viewer who has lived in both Italy and Japan.

"The translation process is actually the same for General Conference," Carlile said, "except conference address transcripts are supplied in advance to translators."

In order for a course to be broadcast there first must be interest.

"Area presidents request that this program be broadcast in their countries," said Remi Mataoa of the church translation department.

Then, BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Board of Education approve eight broadcasts to be translated into French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, and this year, German.

Written transcripts are created by BYU and sent to interpreters.

Interpreters are then matched with campus presenters to "become the voices of the broadcast," Carlile said.

"They are very experienced in this process," said Carlile. "They have great translators and wonderful interpreters."

Foreign broadcasts will air Sept. 10 and 17, but students in BYU satellites around the world should not expect to view specialized topics offered on campus.

Payne, a BYU program administrator, said that topics are carefully chosen for a foreign audience. "We need to be careful of cultural differences between Asia and the U.S., for example, or anyplace," he said.

"We have had topics in the past that were not of a religious nature," Carlile said, but this year, the 175th anniversary of the LDS Church and the 200th birthday celebration of Joseph Smith are emphasized.

Though menopause and ballroom dancing are popular courses, they don't have broad enough appeal to be selected for broadcast.

However, a case could possibly be made for one class offered which certainly has universal interest, "Dressing Slim: A Favorite Fashion Strategy for Those of All Sizes." Vanity knows no boundaries.

Visit educationweek.byu.edu for broadcast information.

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E-mail: utahcounty@desnews.com