Program Overview

The Bachelor of Science degree in Translation is a pre-professional program designed for students who are seeking the more professional focus and interdisciplinary breadth that the B.S. degree offers with the inclusion of a minor, double major or certificate to develop the skills needed to translate in a professional setting. It introduces the basics of translation theory as it applies to the actual practice of translation.

The requirement of a minor, certificate or second major enables students to acquire a level of expertise in a specific field in which they can specialize as translators. This degree also enables students to have a major and a minor that make them more competitive and prepares them for a sector that the U.S. Department of Labor projects as one of the fastest-growing sectors globally. Translation majors are strongly encouraged to undertake study in a country where their language concentration is spoken so that they can achieve the necessary proficiency level. Skills necessary include an excellent command of the source language, an excellent command of the target language, cultural knowledge, specialist knowledge, research competence, terminological competence, technological competence, an understanding of the translation industry and transfer competence.

Graduates may enter graduate programs in translation (the professional degree) or go on to work for government, business or industry, for translation agencies or as freelance translators.

The Translation major comprises the following concentrations:

• Arabic
• French
• German
• Russian
• Spanish

Many study abroad opportunities exist, including:

• France: Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux III, Bordeaux (all class standings, all majors/minors)
• Germany: Julius-Maximilian-Universität Würzburg, Würzbug (all class standings, all majors/minors)
• Germany: Universität Leipzig, Leipzig (intermediate German language proficiency required)
• Spain: Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid (all class standings, all majors/minors)
• Spain: Universidad Europea de Valencia, Valencia

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Participate in the most informal and some formal conversation with sufficient accuracy, clarity and precision to convey their intended message without misrepresentation or confusion and identify the cultural variables likely to lead to misunderstanding when communicating in their language pair.
• Compose routine social correspondence and write summaries, narratives and descriptions of a factual nature needed in a professional context (i.e., business letters, memos, commercial and legal forms etc.) in their non-native language.
• Translate short general and semi-specialized tests in various domains and in a variety of translations contexts from the source language into their native language with a basic understanding of translation principles and of text features relevant in the translation decision-making process.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the typical life cycle of multilingual information in the language industry and common computer applications used by translators.