https://translation.macmillan.yale.edu
Graduate Certificate in Translation Studies

Program Director
Alice Kaplan

Certificate Coordinator
Marijeta Bozovic

Steering Committee Ned Blackhawk (History; American Studies), Marijeta Bozovic (Slavic Languages and Literatures; Film and Media Studies; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies), Paul Bracken (Management; Political Science), Peter Cole (Jewish Studies; Comparative Literature), Robyn Creswell (Comparative Literature), Robert Frank (Linguistics), Supriya Gandhi (Religious Studies), Alice Kaplan (French), Shawkat Toorawa (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations), Jane Tylus (Italian Studies), Alyson Waters (French)

Graduate Certificate in Translation Studies

The goal of the Graduate Certificate in Translation Studies is to promote the interdisciplinary study of translation, encompassing its literary, social, political, economic, legal, technological, and medical dimensions. As human migration and globalization alter the manner and speed of language change, translation has become increasingly central to the workings of the contemporary world. We believe now is the time to capture the new energies and map out the new fields this expanded horizon offers to us. The aim is to provide graduate students across a number of programs, departments, and divisions the opportunity to develop and demonstrate a degree of competence in translation theory, practice, and technologies. A central focus of the program will be to bring together a maximally intellectually and culturally diverse cohort of participating students each year. The certificate program will serve the interests of graduate students looking for a competitive edge in the academic job market as well as open doors to careers outside of academia for others.

Eligibility

The Certificate in Translation Studies (TS) is open to students currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Yale or those entering a graduate program in the fall term. Application to the TS program is due May 1 for the following academic year’s cohort; for more information and the online application, visit https://translation.macmillan.yale.edu.

Course work for the certificate will primarily be completed in the second year of graduate study and will supplement (and in some cases, overlap with) required course work in the student’s home department. All course work for the TS certificate will need to be approved by the director of graduate studies (DGS) of the student’s home department and the TS coordinator, to ensure that TS requirements do not slow down time to degree.

Requirements for the Certificate

Students who wish to receive the TS certificate are required to complete three courses and a capstone activity:

Core Course All TS certificate students will take the Proseminar in Translation Studies (CPLT 504) as their shared foundational course. The proseminar will balance a historically minded introduction to Translation Studies as a growing field with a multidisciplinary survey of its relationships to various fields and academic practices. This core course will be developed and taught by the TS coordinator in consultation with the Executive Committee. The course will necessarily vary with the different background and approaches of the TS coordinator, but the fundamental structure will remain in place each year. The coordinator will incorporate a number of guest lectures by Yale faculty and other invited speakers to expose students to maximally diverse research and practice in the many areas surveyed by the course.

Two Electives Each student will take two elective courses approved by the TS coordinator as relevant to the student’s own research interests. One directed reading course may count as one of the electives; undergraduate courses may be modified through the addition of graduate-level work. Electives will generally consist of courses focusing substantially on topics that inform the student’s research interests within Translation Studies. Examples include: Postcolonial World Literature and Theory (ENGL 936/AFST 746); Proseminar in Comparative Literature (CPLT 515); Philosophy of Language (LING 671/PHIL 742); Language, Culture, and Identity (ANTH 568); Law and History, Law in History (RLST 619/CLSS 872/HIST 513/MDVL 513/NELC 683). The expectation is that students will select at least one elective outside of their home department or program.

Yale offers many courses that qualify as Translation Studies electives at both the undergraduate and graduate level. See https://translation.macmillan.yale.edu/courses-translation-and-related-topics-yale for information on this year’s offerings.

Capstone Project Students will be required to complete one of the following tasks for the final project in Translation Studies: (1) an article suitable for publication; (2) an original translation of a text approved by the TS coordinator; or (3) a minimum of forty hours of community service in translation. Examples include interpreting with a health or social service organization or an internship with a publisher or other organization dedicated to translation, to be approved by the TS coordinator. For internship opportunities for graduate students with both nonprofit and profit-making organizations, see https://translation.macmillan.yale.edu/grants-fellowships and https://translation.macmillan.yale.edu/resource-links on the Translation Initiative website.

In addition, and if such teaching is available, students will be strongly encouraged to serve as teaching fellows for one term in any course approved by the TS coordinator.

The completion of all requirements will need approval from the TS coordinator and the DGS of the student’s degree department. By the end of their third term at Yale, participating students will need to outline a plan for fulfilling all TS requirements in consultation with both the TS coordinator and their home department DGS.

Students will track their completion of requirements in an online worksheet and update the form each term, as instructed. A written proposal for their capstone project, a mid-project progress report, and a final report are required, as well as brief written reports on any relevant translation work and collaborative projects to be included as part of their work for the certificate.

Students in the certificate program will be expected to attend and participate in a diverse range of talks, conferences, screenings, and other intellectual programming connected to translation throughout the year, using the reporting mechanism to note their participation.

For more information or if you have any questions, email translation@yale.edu.

Core Course