Department of Translation and Interpreting

The translation major of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Wuhan University has a long history and profound academic background. The Department of Translation and Interpreting is an important front for teaching translation, research and training talent in Central China and even across the country. Many famous translators and translation theorists such as Gu Hongming, Zhu Guangqian, Wen Yiduo, Fang Zhong, Ye Junjian, Yuan Jinxiang and Guo Zhuzhang, have engaged in translation teaching or research here. Following the approval of the first-level discipline doctoral degrees awarding unit in foreign languages and literature in 2010, it was approved as the second-level discipline doctoral degrees awarding unit in English language and literature in 2011 and began to recruit doctoral students in translation. In 2012, it was granted the second-level doctoral program in translation studies, which is one of the few authorized units with doctoral programs in translation studies in China. With the rapid development of the translation discipline, the translation direction was separated from the English Department in 2010 and the Department of Translation and Interpreting was established. After more than ten years of hard work, the Department has formed a complete education system for Bachelor of Translation; Professional Master of Translation and Interpreting; Academic Master of Translation; Doctor of Translation; and a post-doctoral mobile station for first-level discipline. It accepts a certain number of visiting scholars and post-doctoral researchers every year.

The Department has a strong faculty, a high level of academic qualifications, a complete academic echelon, and a reasonable age structure. There are 14 full-time teachers, including 4 doctoral supervisors, 4 professors, 8 associate professors and 2 lecturers, all with overseas study experience. Professor Liu Junping and Professor Ma Xiao are the leaders of this discipline. They hold important academic positions in China National Committee for BTI Education,Translators Association of China, China Association for Comparative Studies of English and Chinese, China Pragmatics Association, Translation Theory and Translation Teaching Committee of Translators Association of China, Translators Association of Hubei,Translators Association of Wuhan, etc., and have a wide influence in the country. In 2015, the teaching team of the Department, led by Professor Ma Xiao, was awarded the only “7th Principal Award for Outstanding Teaching Contribution of Wuhan University”. In 2020, the team won the honor of “Hubei Provincial Teaching Team”. Luo Jing, a young teacher of the Department, won the championship of the CTPC National Translation Competition, first prize of the Wuhan University Young Teachers Teaching Competition and second prize of the Hubei Provincial Young Teacher Lecture Competition. The Department has also hired a group of part-time professors who work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations, provincial and municipal foreign affairs offices and translation agencies. The Department enrolls about 30 undergraduates every year, about 40 professional postgraduates in translation and interpreting, about 10 academic postgraduates in translation, about 5 doctoral students, about 5 visiting scholars, and about 3 post-doctoral researchers.

Teaching and research institutions related to the Department include the MTI Education Center of Wuhan University, the Compilation & Translation Center of Wuhan University, the Dictionary Compilation and Translation Research Center of Wuhan University, and the Translation Research Institute of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Wuhan University. The teachers of the Department have also published a series of influential translation research monographs and teaching materials. The Department attaches importance to international exchange and collaboration. It has established long-term and stable relations with University of Aberdeen, University of Leeds and Durham University in Britain, Ohio State University in America, Macquarie University and University of Wollongong in Australia, and has established undergraduate and graduate exchange programs.

The Department attaches great importance to the teaching and practice activities of students, and has established Hubei Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, Hubei Provincial Government Website (English), Wuhan Foreign Affairs Office, Jingzhou Foreign Affairs Office, Xianning Foreign Affairs Office, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Transn Internet of Languages Technology Co. Ltd, iFLYTEK Co. Ltd, and other practice bases. With the Wuhan University interpretation team as the platform, the teachers and students of the Department have long been responsible for the simultaneous interpretation services of large-scale international conferences in Hubei Province and even in the central and southern regions, which receive good social responses. The students have made great achievements in important competitions, such as provincial and national translation competitions, and won various awards in the “FLTRP Cup” English Speech Contest, English debate contests, the “Cross-Strait” and the “CTPC Cup” All China Interpretation Contests. Fu Duanling, an undergraduate in the Department, won the top ten students of Wuhan University in 2013. She was the first person from the school to win this honor and won a good reputation for the school. The translation major has trained a large number of high-end translation talents for all sectors of society. Its graduates have broad employment channels and high employment rate. They are mainly distributed in colleges and universities, large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises, large foreign-funded enterprises, ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as foreign-related enterprises and institutions in provinces and cities, and are well received by employers.

Department Head: Xiong Wei

Deputy Department Head: Jiang Chengzhi, Huang Min