First Circular and Call for Papers

XV SYMPOSIUM ON TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING STUDIES

KäTu2017: THE POWER OF DIVERSITY

University of Vaasa, 21–22 April, 2017

 

THEME

The theme of KäTu2017 is The Power of Diversity. With this theme we want to emphasize the nature of translation and interpreting as increasingly multifaceted and important phenomena.

Current changes in society at large and at universities have an effect on the field of translation and interpreting. With our theme of The Power of Diversity we want to draw attention to the central position and importance of translation and interpreting in a rapidly changing and diversifying world.

The theme can be approached, for example, from the following angles:

  • Translation and interpretation at a turning point – diversity in the past, now and in the future
  • The interface between multiculturalism and multilingualism
  • The interface between professionals and non-professionals
  • The various definitions of quality: who and what defines it?
  • The levels of interaction and power
  • The need for agency and power in translation and interpreting
  • Power, empowerment and well-being

As always, topics in translation and interpretation other than those on the above list are more than welcome.

 

PURPOSE

The purpose of the annual KäTu Symposia is to offer a common forum for researchers, translators and interpreters to exchange ideas and discuss developments in the field, present ongoing research and survey the state and status of Translation Studies. PhD students are an important target audience of the symposia as they offer doctoral candidates opportunities to receive feedback during the various stages of their research.

For fourteen years, the KäTu Symposia have gathered together professionals and scholars from all corners of the fields of translation and interpreting, both as audience and speakers. Each symposium is organized in turn by a Finnish university offering training for translators and interpreters together with the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (SKTL). This year the symposium is organized, for the last time, at the University of Vaasa, the birthplace of the symposium series. As of the 1st of August, 2017, language-related research and degree education will be transferred from the University of Vaasa to the University of Jyväskylä.

 

PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS AND POSTERS

The speakers of the 2017 plenary presentations are Professor Jorge Díaz-Cintas (University College London) and University Lecturer, PhD Kristiina Abdallah (University of Vaasa). In addition to the plenary lectures, the schedule will contain presentations (20 + 10 minutes) in parallel sections, workshops and poster presentations. The workshops will be allocated two-hour sessions, which makes them well-suited for addressing a broad topic in general terms (as panel discussions or in small groups) or for investigating a specific subject together from a problem-solving standpoint. A separate, one-hour session will be reserved for posters, and the best poster will be awarded.

We ask that proposals for workshop themes be sent by November 25, 2016 and proposals for section papers and posters by January 20, 2017. All proposals (max. 300 words) are to be sent as email attachments in rtf, doc or docx format to katu2017(at)uva.fi. Please mention both in the subject heading of the email and in the proposal itself whether the proposal is for a workshop, section paper, or poster.

More information on the workshops will be forthcoming in the next circular, and approval of section papers and posters will be announced by February 20, 2017.

 

TRAINING EVENT FOR PhD STUDENTS ON APRIL 20, 2016

A training event will be arranged in connection with the symposium on Thursday afternoon, April 20, 2017. The event is especially aimed at PhD students and their supervisors, but it is open to all symposium participants. The topic of this year’s event is how to act in the media as a researcher. An expert in science communication, M.Soc.Sci Riikka Kalmi from the University of Vaasa gives a lecture on how to represent one’s own research, academic field and university in various media channels as well as on how to encounter publicity as a researcher. The lecture is followed by a workshop where the topic is discussed and further elaborated from the translation and interpreting researchers’ point of view. Further information on the training event will be provided in the second circular.

 

LANGUAGES

Finnish, Swedish and English are the primary working languages at the symposium and its sections. Please contact the organizers regarding the possibility to use other languages and the availability of interpreting services.

 

TIEDON HELMI (PEARL OF KNOWLEDGE) AWARD

Tiedon helmi award, granted annually by the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters, will this year be awarded in the symposium for the second time. The award is granted on alternating years to a person or a community either for research or teaching merits related to a single act, long-term activity or life’s work. In 2017 the award will be granted for research merits.

 

The decision about the award is made by the board of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters on the basis of the proposal of the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section, which acts as the jury. The proposal is based on nominations from the members of the Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section. Members must carefully observe the principles of nomination, which are available in Finnish at https://sktl-fi.directo.fi/jasenet/opettajat-ja-tutkijat/toiminta/tiedon-helmi-palkinto/.

Proposals explicating the reasons for the nomination are to be sent by February 15 to the Section’s secretary, Turo Rautaoja, e-mail: turo.rautaoja(at)utu.fi

 

PUBLICATION

Articles based on the presentations given at the symposium will be compiled into the 11th volume of the electronic publication MikaEL. All speakers, poster presenters and organisers of workshops and panels are invited to contribute with a previously unpublished article. The 11th volume will be published in March-February 2018 before the next KäTu symposium. The previous publications can be found at http://www.sktl.fi/liitto/seminaarit/mikael-verkkojulkaisu/. The editors of the 11th volume will be announced at the symposium, and contributor guidelines will be sent to all participants via e-mail after the symposium.

 

INFORMATION AND CONTACT DETAILS

Circulars pertaining to the KäTu2017 Symposium will be published on the symposium’s website at https://katu-symposiumi.com/xv/. A second circular with information on registration, fees, accommodation, and other practical matters will be published in December 2016. Kindly use the email address katu2017(at)uva.fi for all correspondence about the symposium.

 

ORGANIZERS

University of Vaasa

Nestori Siponkoski (chair of the local organizing committee)

Kristiina Abdallah

Mona Enell-Nilsson

Anu Heino

Siru Lamminpää

Jaana Puskala

Gun-Viol Vik

Jari-Pekka Välimaa

 

The Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters,
Teachers’ and Researchers’ Section

Ritva Hartama-Heinonen, University of Helsinki (chair of the section)

Juha Eskelinen, University of Helsinki

Turo Rautaoja, University of Turku

Minna Ruokonen, University of Eastern Finland

Dieter Hermann Schmitz, University of Tampere

Nestori Siponkoski, University of Vaasa

 

WELCOME TO VAASA!