A bit about collaborative translation at Tufts

Classicist Marie-Claire A. Beaulieu has conscripted undergraduate and graduate students -- now over a dozen of them -- to identify and translate orphan texts in the Tisch Library Miscellany Collection from Latin to English. According to a "five-minute" interview with her at Chronicle.com, she has turned these students into "historical sleuths, opening the cold case of the centuries-old texts." From the interview:

Q. Do you think such "crowd" translation, in which the participants aren't experts but just students interested in the subject, is the future in your field?

A. Definitely. With the humanities becoming so digitized, we're working with larger and larger collections. Someone doesn't need to be an absolute expert on a manuscript to translate it. If you give an undergraduate the proper tools, they can do a fantastic job. This is something my colleagues in the sciences have realized for a very long time. Undergraduates frequently work in labs on major projects. So, absolutely, I think in the humanities that is the future as well.

Funding available for French author visits

The French Embassy is reviewing applications for "French Authors on Tour", a program which provides financial aid to American institutions wishing to invite and play host to French authors for book signings, and symposia. Contact: Authors on Tour, Book Department, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, 972 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10021.

Award announcement for translations from Japanese

Translations of Japanese literature to English may be submitted for consideration for the Japan-U.S. Friendship Committee Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature. Contact: Donald Keene Center of
Japanese Culture, Columbia University, 116th Street and Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, or by phone, 212-854-5036.