DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN, MIDDLE EASTERN AND SOUTH ASIAN
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
PROPOSAL FOR:
AN UNDERGRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN TRANSLATION
DESCRIPTION
The Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures
(AMESALL) intends to offer an undergraduate Certificate in Translation with a focus on
Arabic, Hindi, Persian and Swahili. The primary emphasis of the program is on
translation into English. The certificate would provide students with sufficient grounding
in translation theory and practice to prepare them for professional translation work in a
variety of fields: literary; film sub-titling; legal service (translation of statutes and other
judicial codes etc), medical service (translation of medical records, patient histories etc).
It would also serve as an entry credential for work in a variety of government
organizations and non-governmental organizations. The certificate would be an important
incentive for the study of some of the languages offered in AMESALL to the advanced
level. By targeting professionals in various fields of work – legal, medical, security,
business etc – the program is also expected to be a source of revenue for Rutgers
University.
NEED
New Jersey has one of the fastest growing populations of people of Middle Eastern and
South Asian and African origin in the USA. Many members of these communities
continue to be intimately connected with the languages, cultures and regions of origin
even in the pursuit of their professional and social lives in the USA. Their presence and
enduring traditions have opened up several new possibilities in international business,
contract law, public service, entertainment industry, and international relations, which
require translation services on a regular or ad hoc basis.
The tragic events of 9/11 have also led to a dramatic rise in the demand for linguistically
proficient specialists in translation. Since then translation has become deeply implicated
in matters of global diplomacy. Translation has moved to the fore as an issue of major
political and cultural significance with every renewed call for information sharing by
institutions charged with protecting national security, mutual understanding across
cultural and religious divides, and multilateral cooperation. The four languages included
in this certificate program are all classified as “critical languages” for security purposes.
OTHER PROGRAMS
The only college in New Jersey that has an undergraduate certificate in translation is
Montclair State University. Like virtually all translation certificates in US colleges,
1
however, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, the Montclair program is based
exclusively on “European” language, in this case Spanish. Yet one of the American
spaces of rising need for professional translators is precisely the one occupied by people
of “Afrasian” linguistic background, involving precisely the languages offered under
AMESALL. Just as Rutgers has been a pioneer in giving departmental status to less
commonly taught languages of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, it would now be
a pioneer in having a translation program for languages of these three regions of the
world – the Middle East and South Asia.
Of course, Rutgers World Language Institute (WLI) has recently introduced the Rutgers
Translation and Interpretation (RTI) program. This program has been a subject of a
meeting between AMESALL faculty and the RTI director and faculty, at which it was
concluded that AMESALL’s proposed translation certificate and the RTI program would
not be in conflict with each other because: (1) The only overlapping language between
the two programs is Arabic; RTI does not include Hindi, Persian and Swahili; (2) RTI
courses are offered only during the Winter and Summer Sessions, while AMESALL’s
certificate is designed for the regular academic year; (3) RTI courses are moduleoriented, focusing on discrete translation zones – e.g. legal translation, computer-assisted
translation, medical translation etc. In addition to sensitizing learners to critical linguistic
and theoretical frames, AMESALL’s proposed certificate has a more integrated approach
that enhances the learners’ skills in identifying textual genres and registers and their
characteristics and translatability across languages and cultures. In the final analysis, the
two programs are bound to complement each other.
THE PROGRAM
The Certificate Program in African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and
Literatures consists of 18 credits, completed with a grade of B or better in each course.
The requirements of the program are:
Two language courses beyond the intermediate level in Arabic/Hindi/Persian/Swahili, or
the equivalent in test-out credits
013: 304 Introduction to Translation Studies (Newly proposed)
013: 303 Language in Society (Existing course)
013: 403 Translation Practicum I in Arabic/Hindi/Persian/Swahili (Newly Proposed)
013: 404 Translation Practicum II in Arabic/Hindi/Persian/Swahili (Newly proposed)
Credits earned in any of the above courses can also be used to fulfill the requirements of
the Major or the Minor in AMESALL.
In order to cater to non-traditional and non-Rutgers students, all courses for the
Certificate in Translation will be offered in the evenings and weekends.
2
INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF
AMESALL is very fortunate to have a cluster of faculty, who are already at Rutgers or
will be joining Rutgers next academic year, that is trained in translation and/or has a wellestablished record of translated publications. These include:
Samah Selim (PhD, Columbia): A translation theorist, a researcher in translation studies
and an internationally-acclaimed, award-winning translator. Language: Arabic
Paul Sprachman (PhD, Chicago): A translation theorist and a distinguished translator of
Persian literature. For several years now Dr. Sprachman has taught courses in the theory
and practice of Persian translated at Rutgers designed to prepare students to translate
legal, medical, and other documents from Persian to English. Languages: Persian and
Urdu
Alamin Mazrui, (PhD, Stanford): A socio-linguist who has been conducting research on
(post)colonial translation in sub-Saharan Africa, and on the dynamics of
interpretation/translation in the courtroom. Alamin is part of a Kenyan team to establish a
certification program for court interpreters in Kenya. Language: Swahili
Preetha Mani, (PhD, Berkeley): A specialist of translation studies in the South Asian
context with a focus on gender. Languages: Hindi and Tamil
Nida Sajid (PhD, Toronto): A translation theorist with a strong grounding in the practice
of translation arising from her training in Applied and Comparative Linguistics.
Languages: Hindi/Urdu and Bengali
RESOURCES NEEDED
Instructional Needs
The department has sufficient resources to teach all the courses for the proposed
certificate for all the languages. The only exception is the Practicum I and Practicum II
courses for Arabic, for which additional funding for a part-time lecturer (for one course
per semester) would be required in the short run. In the meantime, the department is
exploring the possibility of applying for a Mellon grant to cover the cost of the Arabic
ptl.
Non-Instructional Needs
The department will cover from its operational budget all costs related to the purchase of
on-line legal, medical and other specialized bilingual reference works, as well as machine
translation software.
3