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Translation Studies

Translation Studies

The Second Focus in Translation Studies recognizes students’ cross-disciplinary work at the intersection of foreign languages, written arts, and literary studies. 
Students need to have proficiency in at least one language other than English on the intermediate level. The Second Focus in Translation Studies can provide students with the opportunity to effectively integrate analytical and creative work, and will be of interest to students who pursue course work in languages, written arts, and literature alike.

Courses and Requirements

Once students have completed all requirements, they should fill and submit this Second Focus Application:
Download Application
  • Courses
    Students complete two core courses, both of which are offered on a regular basis (at minimum one of the two each semester):
    • a translation workshop
    • a course in translation theory and poetics.
    In addition, students take one elective class in:
    • Written Arts,
    • Literature, or
    • an upper level FLCL literature seminar with a translation study component.
    Those elective courses will be marked accordingly in the course list.
  • Requirements
    • 2 courses of language study (4 credits each) on the intermediate level (e.g., 201/202)*
    • 2 core courses (4 credits each): a translation workshop and a translation theory course
    • 1 elective course (4 credits) with a translation component from any affiliated program
    * Incoming students with respective proof of language proficiency at the B1-B2 level can test out of one or both courses of the language requirement, and take 2 core translation courses, plus 2 electives with a translation component.

Courses Offered this Semester

LIT 210 Theory in Translation with Elizabeth Holt

Theory in Translation interrogates social histories of solidarity, soft power, transcultural politics, and translatability through networks of translation active in the middle decades of the twentieth century.  We will pay special attention to the theoretical promise and historical legacy of collective translation projects, orality, multilingualism, and anonymity in transnational and transcultural projects of intercontinental solidarity.  Our focus will be on theory circulating in the context of empire and anticolonialism between Arabic, Chinese, English, French, and Spanish, as well as through symbolic registers such as graffiti, film, and poster art. Case studies will be drawn from the publications and reception of Mao Tsetung, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ghassan Kanafani, William Faulkner, and T.S. Eliot, and the course will end by considering the role of these and other translation networks in the articulation of network theory in the final decades of the twentieth century. There are no prerequisites.

LIT 2604 Translation Worshop with Jennifer Zoble

Whether we’ve been raised multilingually, studied languages in school, or engaged with translated texts and media, we all have a relationship to the art of translation. In this course we’ll investigate—through our own practice and through our discussion of books, articles, podcasts, and films exploring the translation process—what this deeply nuanced and necessary art entails, as well as the political and social conditions that shape it. Though our focus will be literary translation, we’ll also delve into some other translation contexts, including audio-visual translation, translation for performance, and community translation. We’ll read authors including Don Mee Choi, Daniel Hahn, and Mark Polizzotti, and speak with invited guests about their work in the literary and performance fields. Students will undertake a series of translation exercises and develop two translation projects that require them to work both creatively and critically with texts of their choosing. Basic reading and/or speaking proficiency in a second language is advised; please contact instructor Jen Zoble at [email protected] with any questions. This course meets a requirement for the Second Focus in Translation Studies.

Faculty

Franco Baldasso (Italian Studies)
John Burns (Spanish Studies)
Ziad Dallal (Arabic Studies)
Elizabeth Holt (Literature)
Wyatt Mason (Written Arts)
Daniel Mendelsohn (Classical Studies)
Karen Raizen (Italian Studies)
Jana Schmidt (German Studies)
Éric Trudel (French Studies, director)
Olga Voronina (Russian and Eurasian Studies)
Thomas Wild (German Studies)
Jen Zoble (Translation)

Contact

For more information, contact Professor Éric Trudel at [email protected].
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Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504-5000
Phone: 845-758-6822
Admission Email: [email protected]
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