PhD in Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies

1. Translation
2. Interpreting
3. Intercultural Studies

Curriculum 1: Translation

• translation, especially in the technical-scientific, institutional, tourist and editorial fields (especially in the areas indicated in the “Intercultural Studies” item)
• technologies for translation
• localization and multimedia translation
• terminology and lexicography
• contrastive analysis of written texts, especially if corpus-based
• history of translation 

Curriculum 2: Interpreting

• interpreting, including conference, dialogue/community, court, media and institutional interpreting
• linguistic and cultural mediation
• contrastive analysis of oral texts, especially if corpus-based

Curriculum 3: Intercultural Studies

• humour studies
• women’s literature
• feminist criticism
• dystopia and science fiction
• migration
• identity
• children’s and Young Adult literature

Appointed by RD n. 709/2023 Prot n. 149534 on Jun 02, 2023

Translation: students develop critical-theoretical skills applied in technical, institutional, publishing, and literary translation; analytical skills, in contrastive analysis, using corpora and CAT tools. Audio-visual translation (dubbing, subtitling, audio description, and localization), terminological studies, theatre translation, lexicography, and the history of translation are also part of this area.

Interpretation: students acquire skills in conference, dialogic or community, legal, and institutional interpreting; develop critical and analytical skills of oral texts (using corpora and related software).

Intercultural studies: students acquire an interdisciplinary methodology in humor studies; women's lit. and feminist criticism; dystopia and science fiction; migration; identity; children's and YA lit. Students develop theoretical and analytical skills based on an interdisciplinary approach. They learn to critically interpret the present, to intervene on and improve it.

The doctoral program consists of three areas of specialization (translation, interpreting, and intercultural studies), with a common set of courses and seminars as well as specific teaching activities focused on the individual areas. Research projects are defined at the beginning of the first year and supervisors assign to students tasks related to their project, such as bibliographical research, identifying key areas of interest, attending conferences, seminars, courses and workshops, data collecting, and field work. Individual research activities are followed and documented through written and oral reports.

First year courses focus on methodology, both general and specific to each area. Second and third year seminars (at a deeper level) concern specific topics according to the different areas of study and interests of participating doctoral students. Individual research, to be documented by means of written and oral reports, consists in bibliographic research, use of digital corpora, data collection through enquiries (with statistical analysis), creation and analysis of databases, and tests of software for linguistic analysis. During the program, doctoral students participate in national and international conferences, delivering papers to be published in conference proceedings, edited volumes, and national and international journals.

PhD students will spend at least six months abroad and will benefit from a well-established network of foreign Universities, among which are Monash, Durham, Dusseldorf, Leeds, Lancaster, Oxford, Parigi (Nanterre La Défense), Bordeaux, Lyon, Tours, Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Utrecht, Mosca, Saint Petersburg, Limerick. Various agreements have been signed for joint degrees (Durham, Barcelona (UAB), Dusseldorf, Mainz, Auckland, and Monash University). Erasmus Mundus agreements are also in place.
The Doctoral program hosted numerous visiting doctoral students from Italian and foreign Universities: UK, Spain, Egypt, Iran, Australia, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia.
The Doctoral program was invited to be a foundation member of the International Doctorate in Translation Studies as of 14.09.2016.
An agreement has been finalized with the University of Valladolid for which the doctorate has been awarded the qualification of innovative and international doctorate.

During the program, doctoral students take part in national and international conferences and publish their works in conference proceedings, edited volumes, and national and international journals. The average output per candidate for the three-year program, is 5-6 conference presentations and/or published articles.