Our Master’s Translation Studies focuses, first and foremost, on practical translation work, developing your skills as a translator in the areas that interest you. At the same time, you will have the chance to reflect on the opportunities and problems that can arise when people from different cultures communicate. These are key skills for our globalised era.
Course objectives
The Master’s in Translation Studies has a strong focus on practical translation and on specific situations in which people communicate with another across different cultures. We offer the following languages: French, Spanish, and (subject to demand and availability) Chinese, Russian, and Polish.
The course provides extensive practical translation work on a theme or topic of your choice. It is structured so that you can have considerable flexibility in choosing what kinds of translation you wish to undertake and what areas of translation you wish to specialise in, as you build up a portfolio of translations with your tutor. You may also choose to undertake an extended translation as part of your final dissertation and will be given an opportunity to examine some of the key topics in contemporary Translation Studies.
Students on the course also examine some major debates on the opportunities and problems that arise when people from different cultures communicate and translate, through seminars led by experts in the field of intercultural communication. There will also be some opportunity for work-based study and exercises, as well as a chance to develop your skills using translation software packages.
If you wish to study for a PhD subsequently, you have the opportunity to demonstrate you have attained a level that prepares you for a higher research degree. For candidates of a suitable level, there is an opportunity to continue in Stirling with a practice-led doctorate involving translation.
Entrance requirements
Usually, a first or upper second class single or combined Honours degree, or its equivalent in a relevant subject from a university recognised by the University of Stirling. You must have near-native fluency in a language (other than English) for which tuition is provided on this programme.
English language requirements
If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence of your proficiency such as a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 (minimum 6.0 in each skill), or TOEFL: Listening 23, Reading 23, Speaking 23, Writing 23.
Funding
A variety of scholarships and bursaries may be available in any given year, including scholarships in the School of Arts and Humanities.
information on possible sources of funding
Modes of study
Full-time
MLitt: one year
Certificate: nine months
Part-time
MLitt: 27 months
Certificate: 21 months
Course start date
September
Structure and content
The teaching year follows the two semesters, which run from mid-September to late December, and from mid-February to the end of May.
- Research Skills: Our innovative training for graduates enables students to build up a portfolio of skills that prepare them for academic and professional life. All graduate students will work with their supervisors to select what’s right for them from a menu of activities. Each student will build up a portfolio of skills every year. In the taught postgraduate degree, you may be given specific guidance on what activities you need to undertake for those qualifications.
- Portfolio of Translation: During Semesters 1 and 2, you will develop, with your tutor, your own portfolio of practical translation exercises, relating to your own interests. You will also discuss and comment on the issues arising in translating your portfolio, relating these to some of the key debates in Translation Theory through seminars and workshops.
- Cultural Translation and Transfer: You will engage in seminar discussions with experts in the area of cultural translation and transfer: the opportunities and problems that arise when information is communicated across cultures. You will write essays reflecting both on a major topic of debate and on the relevance of these questions to work-based or practical situations.
Dissertation
In the spring and summer, you will have the choice between a dissertation on a topic drawn from Translation Studies or from Intercultural Studies, and an extended piece of translation and related research on an area of your choosing.
Delivery and assessment
You will attend seminars and workshop sessions which will focus on cultural translation and transfer, but also on the practical activity of translation. Each semester will also include a site visit to an institution which engages in cultural translation, broadly construed. Assessment will include essays, reports (which may take the form of written documents, websites or Powerpoint presentations), and the portfolio of translation which will be developed in spring and autumn semesters.
Preparation
Contact the School for information on your timetable and reading lists.
Career opportunities
As well as employment opportunities in translation, employers’ organisations and economic analysts have indicated the value of high-level language skills to a wide-range of global business. The full Master’s is a particularly appropriate qualification for those intending to pursue subsequent doctoral and practice-led research.
