Translation, BA

Translation is a crucial dimension of global society. Today's extensive exchange of material and nonmaterial cultures across national borders has made interconnectedness a defining feature of globalization. Translation has become at once the object, the conduit, and the method by which global culture gets generated, exchanged, and experienced. To brave this vast geography of interconnectedness requires a special reserve of knowledge and skills (i.e., global literacy) to support intercultural understanding and communication, critical inquiry and creativity, an ethics of trust and empathy, and global engagement and collaboration.

Undergraduate courses in translation equip students with proficiency in the complex, multifarious context in which texts are produced and processed. Critical reflection on and engaged practice of translation present unparalleled opportunities for undergraduate academic inquiry.

Students who major in translation become learned users of translation and critically reflective participants in the global circulation of information, people, and cultures. They graduate ready to fill the growing demand for trained translators to serve as language mediators in global sectors such as business, communication, and diplomacy.

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

  • develop critical global literacies necessary for purposeful and productive participation in global professional and cultural environments;
  • learn research methods to enhance creativity;
  • develop foundational knowledge and practice of translation, in its various modes and contexts, necessary for graduate study in specialized translation programs;
  • attain preprofessional competencies toward building a career as professional translators and language mediators; and
  • gain awareness of the business and industrial dimensions of translation through networking and building communities.