Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MA in Translation
2016-2017
Disclaimer:
This booklet supplements, rather than replacing, any University of Bristol formal documentation or regulations.
The contents of this document are the copyright of the University of Bristol and all rights are reserved.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................4
1.1 Aims of the Programme ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Programme Structure ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Attendance and Engagement ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.4 Exit Awards, Merits and Distinctions............................................................................................................................................ 6
1. INTRODUCTION
Welcome to postgraduate studies in the Faculty of Arts. This Programme Handbook is intended for all
distance-learning students enrolled on the MA in Translation from September 2016. It should be read in
conjunction with the Postgraduate handbook, which applies to all postgraduate students in the Graduate
School of Arts and Humanities, and the individual unit handbooks which you will find on each unit website.
These should all be read in the context of the University of Bristol Regulations and Code of Practice for
Taught Programmes (hereafter referred to as the Code of Practice). The Postgraduate handbook and the
Code of Practice can be found at https://www.bris.ac.uk/arts/gradschool/current/ (N.B. there may be a short
delay until the current years handbook is updated; last years handbook is still available on the website and is
indicative, but there may well be changes to the document for this year).
The purpose of the Postgraduate Handbook and the Programme Handbook is to equip you with the
information that you need whilst studying at the University of Bristol. Most of students frequently asked
questions are answered in these online resources, so before contacting a member of academic or
administrative staff with a query, do check them to see if they contain the information that you need.
The information contained in the handbooks is accurate at time of going to press, but you should be aware that
academic regulations, unit descriptors and other aspects of your course may change. We will inform you
directly by email of any major changes. We welcome feedback and suggestions about the structure and format
of the handbooks - please email comments to the programme director at carol.osullivan@bristol.ac.uk.
Theories of Translation
Applied Translation
Introduction to Specialised Translation
up to two further practical language units (for students with more than one language pair)
Computer-Aided Translation
Translation Industry
Principles of Subtitling
Theories of Translation 2
Supervised Independent Study
The Supervised Independent Study option is available in either teaching block (subject to tutor availability and
expertise) for students who would like to include a particular element in their MA which is not currently offered
elsewhere in the curriculum. This unit can also be used to gain credit for a work placement (students have
responsibility for identifying and securing an appropriate placement).
More information about unit content can
http://www.bris.ac.uk/esu/unitprogcat/Welcome.jsa.
be
found
in
the
programme
catalogue
at
Each unit has its own website in our Virtual Learning Environment, which is Blackboard. On your Blackboard
homepage you should see a list of the units for which you have registered. You will also see the Caf Ol site.
This is the main programme website, which is the general point of contact for all students. This is the site for
induction and administration, general announcements from the programme director, chat with your fellow
students on the course, feedback to your student representative, and so on. You will find links to all the key
course documents on this site.
Please note that from time to time optional units may be withdrawn for staffing or other reasons. You will be
informed of any changes in good time by the programme administrator. You should also be aware that optional
units run subject to staffing and student demand.
up to formal assignment submissions. It is the students responsibility to ensure that they have sufficient time
to complete the units for which they have registered.
It is possible that circumstances can change, and that you may find for work, health or other reasons that you
have less time for study than you expected. This should be handled as you would handle unexpected
circumstances affecting professional practice as a translator; get in touch early with your unit tutor or
programme director as appropriate; be realistic about the pace of study you are likely to be able to maintain;
plan ahead around submission deadlines for formal assignments and other milestones. The key thing is to
keep in touch with your tutors, should you experience problems keeping to the unit schedule. The earlier we
know there is a problem, the more we should be able to help and the more options there are likely to be.
(PGCert)
60 M Level credits
Postgraduate Diploma
(PGDip)
Master of Arts
(MA)
You are enrolled on a Masters or a PGDip programme of study. Should you wish at any stage to exit with an
earlier qualification, it is your responsibility to write to the programme administrator. You should do this as
soon as you decide you wish to exit at a particular point before the full award.
Awards may be made with a Pass, Merit or Distinction. The regulations for the award of Pass, Merit and
Distinction may differ from institution to institution. Please familiarize yourself with the regulations governing
the classification of degrees which can be found in the Code of Practice, and the criteria specific to the
Faculty of Arts which are on the Graduate School website.
The Postgraduate Board of Examiners (Award Board) is held in the winter of each year. This will allow you to
attend a University of Bristol Graduation Ceremony in the spring of the following year. Awards may be made
with Pass, with Merit or with Distinction. Please familiarize yourself with the relevant regulations in the
Postgraduate Handbook.
Status
Name
Contact Details
rebecca.kosick@bristol.ac.uk
Programme
director from
January 2017
r.gould@bristol.ac.uk
Dr Carol OSullivan
Lecturing Staff
Programme
Administrator
German-English translation
Paul Golf
p.golf@bristol.ac.uk
Chinese-English translation
Sam Gordon
sg5429@bristol.ac.uk
French-English translation
Rosalind Harvey
rh14415@bristol.ac.uk
Spanish-English translation
Liz Hayes
eh15507@bristol.ac.uk
French-English translation
Cathy McAteer
cathy.mcateer@bristol.ac.uk
Russian-English translation
Dr Damien Mooney
damien.mooney@bristol.ac.uk
French-English translation
Jana Nahodilova
j.nahodilova@bristol.ac.uk
Czech-English translation
Dr Lucas Nunes
Vieira
l.nunesvieira@bristol.ac.uk
David Perkins de
Oliveira
david.perkins@bristol.ac.uk
Subtitling, Portuguese-English
Translation
Amber Phillips
ap13692@bristol.ac.uk
Italian-English translation
Dr Xiaochun Zhang
xz16864@bristol.ac.uk
Chinese-English translation
Surekha Agarwal
Tel. 0117 3318452
(Mon 9.30-5.00, Wed translation.pgadmin@bristol.ac.uk
and Fri 9.30-1.00)
damien.mcmanus@bristol.ac.uk
Programme administration
Library enquiries
3.3 Assessment
Assessment for this programme is all by coursework. There are no on-site or online timed examinations. All
assignments are submitted electronically to the appropriate submission point on the Blackboard site for the
unit concerned. Instructions for how to submit your work are provided on Blackboard. Details of the
assignment(s) required for each unit can be found on the relevant unit site in Blackboard.
There is an annual schedule for the submission of formal assignments (see section 2.3.) You will also find
individual unit assignment deadlines listed on the unit site. Any changes to these assignment deadlines, if
required, will be communicated to you by email to your university email address as well as on Blackboard.
In order to avoid technical or other problems, you should prepare for timely upload of your assignments,.
Deadlines for submission of work for the MA in Translation are one minute to midnight, UK time. Please note
that computer failure is not accepted as an extenuating circumstance. This replicates the professional
translation environment in which translators are expected to bear responsibility for having contingency plans in
case of technical problems. It is your responsibility to keep backups of your work. For more details about the
policy on computer failure, please see the Code of Practice. Please note that there are penalties for late
submission of coursework. Please familiarise yourself with the regulations in the Code of Practice
pertaining to late work.
You may apply for a short extension to the deadline for submitted coursework. Please note that this is a formal
procedure. You should discuss your extension request with your tutor, and complete the appropriate form,
which can be found on the Caf Ol course site on Blackboard or from the programme administrator. Please
familiarise yourself with the regulations in the Code of Practice pertaining to extensions to coursework
deadlines.
In some cases, health problems, unexpected work commitments or other circumstances may affect your ability
to maintain your pace of study or meet deadlines. There is a process for applying for extenuating
circumstances. There is a deadline in each teaching block for applications to the Special Circumstances
committee and students are notified of this date in advance. Please see the Code of Practice for further details
of the regulations governing extenuating circumstances.
If you experience or anticipate prolonged difficulty in maintaining your pace of study you may need to apply for
a change of pace of study (e.g. from full-time to part-time). In some cases you may need to suspend your
studies. Please note that suspension, like extension, is a formal procedure, designed to cater only for
extreme circumstances. If you are having difficulties maintaining your engagement it is your responsibility to
contact the programme director as early as possible to discuss the impact of your circumstances. For further
guidance on suspension and extension, as well as the procedures for Special Circumstances committees who
consider applications for extenuating circumstances, please see the Code of Practice at
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/esu/assessment/codeonline.html.
The criteria used to assess your coursework are, unless otherwise stipulated, the standard criteria found in the
Postgraduate Handbook on the Graduate School website. Unit-specific assessment criteria, e.g. for
practical translation assignments, are found in the Programme Documents section of Blackboard. There are
important rules around late submission, extenuating circumstances, how credit points are awarded and how
progression occurs from one year to the next. Please familiarize yourself with the relevant sections of the
postgraduate handbook and the Code of Practice.
Plagiarism is a serious form of academic misconduct. Where plagiarism in an assignment is suspected, a
plagiarism panel is convened at School or at Faculty level, depending on the seriousness of the case.
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Plagiarism panels are held via Skype or similar software, and students must make themselves available at
reasonable notice if a panel meeting is requested. For penalties which may apply in cases where plagiarism
has been identified, see postgraduate handbook and Code of Practice.
table of contents
list of tables, list of figures
abstract
acknowledgements
appendices
references/bibliography
footnotes
3.6 Dissertation
The dissertation is the culmination of your MA work. Its importance is reflected in the fact that it is worth 60
credits, or one third of the total credits for the programme. Dissertations allow you to investigate in more detail
a particular research question which has arisen in the course of your studies (research-based dissertation)
or to undertake an extended translation with annotations and commentary (practice-based dissertation).
Details about the dissertation can be found on the unit website on Blackboard.
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Students who are thinking ahead and would like to discuss dissertation ideas at any point in their studies are
welcome to contact the programme director.
3.7 Referencing
Coursework must be referenced using the Harvard author-date system, which is the usual system used
in Translation Studies publications. For details, see the library website.
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exhilaration of the end of term and the excitement of the next step but this feedback is very important to us
and all students are asked to ensure they complete the feedback for each teaching block.
The Virtual Learning Environment used by the University of Bristol. Can be found at
https://ole.bris.ac.uk.
Caf Ol
Extenuating
Circumstances
GSAH
(aka Graduate School) The Graduate School of Arts and Humanities, which is the
administrative hub of your programme at the University of Bristol.
Postgraduate
handbook
A handbook detailing postgraduate learning, teaching, assessment and support issues for
the Faculty of Arts. This should be read in conjunction with the Programme Handbook.
Programme
Administrator
Your first point of contact for all matters relating to registration, enrolment and assessment
submission (see section 2 for contact details).
Programme
Catalogue
The catalogue which contains the descriptors for all units and programmes available at the
University of Bristol. Can be found at www.bris.ac.uk/esu/unitprogcat/Welcome.jsa.
Programme
Handbook
The document you are reading right now. This deals with learning, teaching,
assessment and support issues for the MA in Translation. This should be read in
conjunction with the Code of Practice and the Postgraduate Handbook
Programme Director The academic in overall change of your MA programme (see p.12 for contact details). She
is also a tutor and a unit co-ordinator.
Regulations and
This is the definitive document of rules and regulations governing your study at Bristol. It
Code of Practice for applies to all programmes, University-wide, and can be found at
Taught Programmes http://www.bris.ac.uk/esu/assessment/codeonline.html.
SML
The School of Modern Languages; one of three Schools within the Faculty of Arts. SML is
the home School for your programme.
Unit
Unit co-ordinator
Academic staff member in overall charge of the unit. They may or may not be involved in
teaching the unit.
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