UCL Translation Studies

MA in Translation Theory and Practice

The MA programme in Translation Theory and Practice aims to develop an understanding of translation in its social and cultural contexts, a grasp of the technological environment in which modern commercial and/or literary translating takes place, and, where applicable, practical translation skills involving selected language pairs. Applicants to the programme need a BA (or equivalent) with Upper Second or First Class Honours (or equivalent) in a relevant subject. A sound knowledge of at least one language other than English is essential.

The deadline for applications for a September start is the end of July.

Online application forms and general entry requirements for graduate study at UCL are available from the UCL Registry. Please note that you may need to provide proof of proficiency in English with your application.

The programme for the MA Translation Theory and Practice consists of taught compulsory and optional courses and a dissertation. Each course involves on average two contact hours per week over twenty weeks. In May or June of the academic year there is a dissertation presentation day, on which students present their dissertation project.

The MA programme as a whole comprises 180 credits. Students take taught courses to a value of 120 credits; the dissertation counts as 60 credits.

Duration

The programme can be followed full-time over one calendar year (September to September) or part-time over two calendar years. Part-time students normally take two taught courses in their first year and the remaining course plus the dissertation in their second year.
Teaching is spread over two Terms, from the end of September till the end of March, with a break around mid December. Examinations are scheduled in May-June. The dissertation is submitted at the beginning of September.

Contact Hours

Contact hours per week vary, depending on the particular combination of courses you select. Full-time students can normally expect around 6 to 7 contact hours per week. Some of these will be lectures, others seminars. The rest of the time is spent on reading and coursework. There are also regular meetings with your personal tutor and, later in the year, with your dissertation supervisor. 
Preparation for the dissertation usually involves regular consultation with your dissertation supervisor.

Students may if they wish take a UCL Graduate School research skills course covering topics such as information retrieval and processing, the efficient and critical use of electronic resources, project management, bibliographical referencing and dissertation writing techniques. As part of its skills development programme the UCL Graduate School hosts two Royal Literary Fund Fellows, professional authors who offer one-to-one tutorials in effective academic writing for both native and non-native speakers of English. 

Courses (or 'modules') available for the taught part of the programme are as follows:

Core Module

Optional Modules

Language-specific practical translation modules
Electronic Communication and Publishing Modules

Please note: the modules below are technical computer courses. Please contact Kerstin Michaels before you register on Portico to check that you are eligible for these modules.

Business and Entrepreneurship Module
Further Optional Modules

One module from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (subject to module tutor approval)

Modules at Imperial College


either

or


Please note: not all optional modules may be offered in an academic year.

Dissertation

The dissertation, of 12,000 words in length, can consist either of an annotated translation (in or out of English; maximum 60% translation, minimum 40% introduction and commentary) or of a critical discussion of theoretical, practical or historical aspects of translation. You are free to choose the topic of your dissertation, subject to approval by the MA programme’s academic coordinator. Preparation for the dissertation involves a research skills course. The dissertation itself is written under one-to-one supervision and submitted at the beginning of September. 

Recent MA dissertations

Recent MA dissertations have addressed topics such as:

  • Romeo and Juliet in three Swedish translations
  • Comenius' Orbis sensualium pictus: language and translation in seventeenth-century schools
  • Translating multilingual experimental novels: Christine Brooke-Rose's Textermination into Italian
  • American troubadours: why translate Old Occitan poetry?
  • Beppe Fenoglio's Italian translation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows
  • The ugly duckling: translating children's literature in Flanders

Several pathways through the programme are possible, depending on whether you wish to concentrate on practical translation skills, on electronic publishing, entrepreneurial skills, or on more theoretical or literary aspects of translation.

Page last modified on 12 mar 13 09:07