Graduate Student Conference at UMass Amherst–CFP

Graduate Student Conference on Translation Studies (Online)
Program of Comparative Literature

University of Massachusetts Amherst
April 2-4, 2021

Conference theme: Ethics of Translation and Interpreting

Keynote speaker: Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, Florida International University 

The Graduate Student Conference on Translation Studies was originally planned to be held in April, 2020, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. After being postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference is now planned to be conducted remotely in April 2021. Through synchronous panels, seminars, and social events, the conference will offer opportunities for connection and lively discussion.

This year, we welcome abstracts and panel proposals related to the topics of ethics and justice, pertaining to any subfield of translation and interpreting studies, including literary, technical, and legal translation; theory of translation and interpreting; translation history; and translation and interpreting technology. Possible themes include but are not limited to: interpretation and migrant justice; ethical and
ideological implications of translation choices; translation as activism; translators’ and interpreters’ agency; community interpretation and family interpretation; ethics of medical interpreting; ethical and economic impacts of machine translation; considerations relating to subjectivity, cultural diversity, and collective identity; translation pedagogy; access to translation and interpreting services; politics of literary translation; publishing and visibility; gendered disparities in the profession; and so forth. We welcome comparative studies, case studies, corpus-based studies, argumentative essays, and any other methodology relevant to translation and interpreting studies.

We are honored to host our keynote speaker, Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, a renowned scholar in the field of interpretation theory, best known for his work on the tension between justice and confidentiality in the context of mass prosecutions of undocumented workers. Since then, Dr. Camayd has continued to develop theories of interpretation, translation, and activism, with his most recent work exploring the psycholinguistics of critical thinking in the age of AI and viral propaganda.

Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas is Professor of Hispanic Studies and served for twenty years as Director of Translation Studies at Florida International University. Dr. Camayd has practiced in eight states as a Federally Certified Court Interpreter and expert in forensic linguistics. He has interpreted for numerous heads of state, including Presidents George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Pope Benedict XVI.

He made international headlines with his essay about the Postville, Iowa immigration raid of May 2008, “Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in U.S. History: A Personal Account.” Featured on the cover of The New York Times, his essay denounces the criminalization of migrant workers, and applies semiotic narratology and critical theory to deconstruct post-9/11 immigration policy and its attacks on the Constitution, in what he calls “a dark period in American history.” This work, which has garnered him numerous academic and human rights awards, has led him to take principles of literary criticism—strengthened by the evidentiary process through his experience as a trial interpreter—and apply them to legal discourse analysis and social theory. This methodology is illustrated by his writings on immigration, including his books, Postville: La criminalización de los migrantes and U.S. Immigration Reform and Its Global Impact, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in U.S. history.

Dr. Camayd’s current research focuses on meta-grammar and the psycholinguistics of critical thinking in the age of AI and viral propaganda. His current activism centers on promoting a transnational system of legal and administrative protections for migrant workers, a guardian ad litem program for asserting the legal and human rights of U.S.-citizen children, the banning of for-profit prisons, and the end of immigration detention.

His address at the 2021 UMass Graduate Translation Conference will be titled “The Interpreter as Critic.”

In addition to the keynote address and the panels, conference activities will include literary and commercial translation workshops, social events, and a multilingual literary reading.

Deadline for submission of abstracts and proposals: 1 February 2021 Notification of acceptance: 21 February 2021

Please send abstracts of 200-300 words or panel proposals of <150 words, including names of expected participants, to saldawood@umass.edu. While scholars at various career stages are welcome to apply, please note that priority will be given to applicants who are current graduate students.

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