Welcome to the new Minor in Translation Studies at Rutgers!
The Minor in Translation Studies (MTS) is an interdisciplinary program that educates and trains Rutgers’ undergraduate students from across the Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM fields in the work of translation and interpreting, broadly understood. The minor brings together the internationally recognized research and training in Translation Studies that our faculty offer for the benefit of our undergraduates from across majors.
The MTS requires 18 credits of coursework. Students may begin working toward the minor as soon as they enter Rutgers. Successful completion of the minor requires that students demonstrate, by the beginning of their junior year, knowledge of a language other than English, determined by language department placement tests or another evidence-based assessment, and take at least one semester of advanced language study.
Please contact Professor Karen Bishop at
Course of Study
The interdisciplinary minor in Translation Studies requires a minimum of 18 credits. These credits will be divided between three required categories:
A. theories of translation (3 credits): students will take one of three courses that offer an overview of relevant translation theory. If a student chooses to take more than one of these courses, the additional course will be counted as an elective;
B. translation and language (6 credits): students initially attain or otherwise demonstrate an intermediate level of language study. This will be determined by departmental placement tests. For this category of study, students can follow one of two paths:
1. translation practicum (3 credits) + advanced language study (215+) (3 credits); or
2. advanced language study (215+) (6 credits);
C. electives (9 credits): students will select three courses from across participating departmental offerings; no more than 6 credits may be from the same department. That is, students must select courses from at least two departments.
Students may double-count up to three credits between their majors and other minors. Please see here for a list of courses that you might take to satisfy the above categories.
What You’ll Learn
1. upon completing the minor, students will be well versed in the fundamental theories and practices of Translation Studies. They will develop a working understanding of terminology, concepts, and best practices in the field;
2. students will train in the translation subfield of their choice, including literary translation, critical translation, applied translation, simultaneous interpreting, legal or healthcare interpreting, computer-assisted translation, and multilingual videogame localization;
3. students will gain familiarity with how translation as object of inquiry and mode of linguistic and cultural communication intervenes in and shapes culture, politics, literature, the arts, and industry;
4. students will hone a self-reflexive understanding of the significant ways in which translation serves as fulcrum, instrument, and mediator of modern human relations, political organization, and world systems;
5. students will have been given the opportunity to train in relevant and advanced translation technologies;
6. students will be exposed to and engage in cutting-edge practices of collaboration, cross-disciplinary, and multilingual work;
7. students will know how to situate language and translation in the wider context of the humanities, and in productive relationship with the social sciences and STEM fields.