About the Center

Welcome from the Director 

When the Center was founded in 1978, the field of translation studies was in its infancy and even the idea of literary translation was still met with much resistance among other disciplines within the humanities. Four decades later, the translation community represents a vibrant multicultural and interdisciplinary space within the literary landscape, and I am proud that our Center was a part of this journey.

While much has changed about the way translation is practiced and talked about, our core mission has stayed the same: to educate and support those who study translation, those who practice it, and even those who are simply interested in it. As a vital center at The University of Texas at Dallas and the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, we foster translation in international contexts and promote dialogue among languages and cultures. With its global vision, the Center charts innovative ways to study the art and craft of translation, to integrate translation into the study of world literature and the humanities, to develop interdisciplinary thinking in the arts and humanities, to establish translation as the foundation for cross-cultural communication, to stimulate conversations among languages and cultures, to promote innovative research in translation theory, to link translation to the digital age, and build bridges between the humanities and the sciences to respond to the needs of a globalized world in the twenty-first century.

Thanks to them, the Center continues to be able to offer translation workshops and courses for students from all disciplines, organize exciting events that bring authors, translators, and scholars to campus and — more recently — to the screens in our homes, and is able to publish Translation Review, our peer-reviewed journal that has been one of the anchor points of the field of translation studies since its inception. 

Please feel free to browse our website to learn more about what we do or reach out to us with any questions. 

Sincerely, 

Rainer Schulte 

History of The Center for Translation Studies

Founded by Rainer Schulte at the University of Texas at Dallas in 1978, the Center for Translation Studies has received widespread national and international recognition for its pioneering role in enriching and fostering the study and practice of literary translation.

In addition to promoting the visibility of the literary translator, the Center encourages a dialogue with foreign languages and cultures through the teaching of Translation Workshops and world literature courses; the publication of the Translation Review and the Annotated Books Received; and the presentation of conferences and symposia. A fundamental tenant of its work is to apply the paradigm of translation to the development of interdisciplinarity in the Arts and Humanities and Art and Technology

The Center’s Activities

The Center explores new avenues for the future of Translation Studies through research, publications, and teaching. Activities include:

• Innovative approaches to the interpretation of texts
• Publication of Translation Review
• Publication of Annotated Books Received (ABR)
• Publication of the Center for Translation Studies NewsForum, electronic newsletter 
• Performances of bilingual poetry readings 
• Readings of international plays in translation 
• Organization of symposia to promote literary translation and the study of cross-cultural communication
• Collaboration with international translation centers and universities
• Collaboration with local bookstores and publishers: Wild Detectives and Deep Vellum