Founded in 2011, the Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies brings together academic staff and postgraduate research students working in translation studies, comparative literature, and comparative cultural studies.

The Centre’s research focuses on audio-visual and literary translation, cultural transfer, comparative intellectual and cultural studies, and comparative literature. Our approach is interdisciplinary. In addition to European comparisons, our focus is on Western-Chinese contexts.

The Centre regularly runs or hosts conferences, workshops and external speakers. All our events are open to members of the public. 

Now available: Google Translate & Modern Languages conference videos

Activities

Since the Centre’s launch in 2011, we hosted numerous conferences and events and welcomed many international scholars. Notable events have included: 

• 17 October 2020. Training Workshop on subtitling software (Wincpas and Aegisub) organised by Alex Mevel in conjunction with the ITI (Institute of Translation and Interpreting), online.  
• 5 July 2019. Google Translate II, organised by Yvonne Lee and Klaus Mundt, discussing whether automated Translation Technology in Higher Education is a facilitator or a risk.
• 15 May 2019. CTCCS Guest Lecture: Professor Maximiliaan van Woudenberg (Sheridan Institute of Technology, Oakville (Toronto) & Clare Hall, Cambridge): Networking Romanticism: The Anglo-German Networks of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary Shelley. The seminar explores the term ‘networking Romanticism’ as it refers to the complex historical reality of personal, political, print, manuscript, and social networks during the Romantic period that fostered cosmopolitan interchange of knowledge and information. 
• 17 November 2018. Training Workshop on TRADOS software in conjunction with the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), organised by Dr Alex Mevel at the University of Nottingham aimed at postgraduate students, introducing the TRADOS software and giving participants the opportunity to hone their skills. 
• 12 September 2018. ARTIS@Nottingham2018 – Verbal and Visual Paratexts in Translation and Interpreting Studies, One-day research training event for postgraduates and early career researchers was held on 12 September 2018 at the University of Nottingham in conjunction with ARTIS (artisinitiative.org). The programme for the event can be viewed here.
• 29 June 2018. Google Translate and Modern Languages Education conference, keynote by Dr Joss Moorkens (Dublin City University). Video recordings of papers are available here. 
• 2-3 June 2017. Gender and the Fantastic in the Hispanic Context, symposium including literary round table with Cristina Fernández Cubas 
• 11 March 2017. ITI East Midlands Regional Group workshop with Ros Schwartz – Making Translations Sing 
• 18 May 2016: Cultural Translation: In Theory and as Practice, keynote by  Professor Anthony Pym (Rovira i Virgili University, Spain)
• April-May 2015. Seminar Series on Conference Interpreting featuring Dr Óscar Jiménez Serrano (University of Granada) and Anca Ionescu Director of RICOL: Interpreters’ Cooperative of London 
• February 4 2015. Popular Culture Lecture Series public lecture by Pierre-Alexis Mével – Star Wars and/in Translation 
• 21 May 2014: UK launch of English version of the Dictionary of Untranslatables, edited by Barbara Cassin, which was accompanied by a workshop with keynotes by Professor Barbara Cassin (CNRS, Paris), Professor Emily Apter (New York University), Professor Michael Syrotinski (University of Glasgow), and Professor Michael Wood (Princeton University)
• 8-9 May 2014: Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies: East-West in Dialogue, keynote speakers included Professor Maria Tymoczko (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA), Professor Mona Baker (University of Manchester, UK), Professor Theo D’Haen (KU Leuven), Professor Judy Wakabayashi (Kent State University, USA), Professor Kirsten Malmkjær (University of Leicester, UK), Professor Defeng Li (University of Macau), Professor Ferial Ghazoul (American University in Cairo) and Professor Farzaneh Farahzad (Allameh Tabataba’I University, Tehran), organised in collaboration with the Institute of Modern Languages Research and the British Comparative Literature Association 
• 22 July 2013  Comparable Traditions: King Alfred and Barbarossa in 19^th-century Literature, Art and Historiography, interdisciplinary conference on comparative cultural history keynotes by Professor Barbara Yorke (Winchester) and Dr Camilla Kaul
• 13 July 2013: Subtitling: A Collective Approach, with keynotes by Professor Jorge Díaz-Cintas (Imperial College) and Dr Minako O’Hagan (Dublin City University)
• 11 November 2011: Opening of the Centre, with inaugural lecture by Professor Lawrence Venuti  (Temple University, USA)

Encounters: Writers and Translators in Conversation

Providing a unique opportunity to listen to readings by the author and the translator and to witness the conversation between them, our ENCOUNTERS allow fascinating insights into the working relationship between the two and into practical as well as theoretical aspects of translation.