[News] 2019 International Research School for Media Translation & Digital Culture Held 1-6 July 2019

2019 International Research School for Media Translation & Digital Culture

Held 1-6 July 2019, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Reported by the Baker Centre for Translation & Intercultural Studies

The six-day ‘International Research School for Media Translation & Digital Culture’, which will take place on alternate years, was held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University for the first time in July 2019. Five visiting and local academics working in the area of media translation and digital culture gave lectures and tutorials to 28 home and international students and scholars from six different countries: China, Korea, Austria, US and Italy.

The teaching staff included five tutors: Prof. Luiz Pérez-González (academic director), Prof. Mona Baker and Dr. Henry Jones from the University of Manchester, Dr. Jonathan Evans from the University of Portsmouth, and Dr. Kyung Hye Kim from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Detailed information about the school, training outlines, reading materials, as well as schedules, were all provided to participants four months in advance, allowing them enough time to familiarize themselves with relevant concepts and theories before they attended the school.

The six-day long Media School consisted of 20 hours of lectures spread across five modules, in addition to group and individual tutorials. The modules included lectures on theoretical approaches to media translation research, research methods in media translation, media research design and dynamics, a case-study on non-professional communities of news translation, and academic career development. The lectures dealt with both general theoretical considerations and specific case studies, enabling students to engage with theory as well as gain insight into its actual application in the analysis of texts, practices and communities.

Group and one-to-one tutorials encouraged students to share their work and engage in-depth discussions with their tutors and peers, an experience considered by many to be one of the highlights of the summer school. Students gave peer presentations on the last day of the school; these presentations and the submission of a detailed research proposal are required for participants to receive a completion certificate. Both offer students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in applying concepts and exploring issues discussed during the school in their own research, and a chance to receive constructive feedback from teaching staff (and in the case of presentations from their own peers) within a friendly, supportive environment.

Non-academic activities included a welcome reception, a campus tour, and a farewell dinner, all of which provided opportunities for networking and building lasting connections through which participants should be able to continue to engage in intellectual dialogue.

The Jiao Tong Baker Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies is committed to fostering a vibrant research culture and supporting early career researchers through various academic activities and publications, including the Martha Cheung Award for Best English Article in Translation Studies (https://www.sisubakercentre.org/the-martha-cheung-award/), publications such as the forthcoming special issue of Interventions on Translating Knowledges: within and beyond Asia (https://www.sisubakercentre.org/2018/10/18/cfp-intervertions-2020-special-issue-on-translating-knowledges-within-and-beyond-asia/), the upcoming 2020 ARTIS Summer School (https://www.sisubakercentre.org/artis-school/), and the open panel on ‘Translating Modernity: The Dissemination and Mediation of Modern Concepts in Asia’, which will be held at the Genealogies of Knowledge II international conference in Hong Kong, 7-8 April 2020 (https://www.sisubakercentre.org/2019/07/04/cfp-open-panel-translating-modernity-the-dissemination-and-mediation-of-modern-concepts-in-asia/).

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