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GSIT Program Doubles US Capacity for Training Interpreters/Translators

Interpreters

A new program in the Department of Communication has doubled the US capacity for training interpreters and translators. How is this possible? Many countries have scores of programs for training translators/interpreters, but until recently there was only one graduate program for these fields in the US, hidden away in dreary Monterey, CA. This year’s launch of the new Graduate Studies in Interpreting and Translation (GSIT) Program creates a second, and the only such program in the eastern US. And it’s no surprise that this program is in great demand, given the wealth of organizations that depend on the availability of highly qualified interpreters (spoken language) and translators (written language): the United Nations, the World Bank, and the State Department, to name just a few. In addition to growing demand for professional positions in the political, legal, business, health, and educational domains.

In addition to its work in training professional interpreters and translators, GSIT aims to also advanceresearch capacity in these fields, providing opportunities for interesting connections to other research strengths in language science at UMD.

The GSIT Program is directed by Dr David Sawyer, who has many years of practical and academic experience in interpreting. He is a specialist in German, including gigs working for this guy. The GSIT Associate Director is Shawn Parry-Giles, an expert in rhetoric and politics who directs UMD’s Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership. Shawn has a number of prominent publications on this person (busy couple of years ahead for Shawn!).