Category: Teaching

Workshop Again, a Chair, and a Commons

After a decade and a half, I’ve returned to teaching a graduate-level translation workshop. The last time I did this was at the University of Iowa in 2012. So, not yesterday. Except maybe in the Beatles’ sense. This was my long-time colleague Bill Johnston’s course at Indiana University for more than twenty years, and when… Continue reading Workshop Again, a Chair, and a Commons

Two Humans Talking Translation

I managed to meet up with Sophie Hughes yesterday, and we had what the Italians call a chiacchierata, a word that feels so right for the unhurried, pure-joy exchange of our talk. I suppose chiacchierare really just means “to chat,” but that English term feels terribly wanting in color and warmth. Also, we both seemed… Continue reading Two Humans Talking Translation

AI and Literary Translation: Key Questions and Experiments

AI has begun to reshape literary translation, not only in how texts are rendered but in how we understand language, meaning, and interpretation. Over the past several years, I’ve explored this problem through talks, teaching, and a series of experiments and reflections collected on this site. The results are not conclusive. But certain patterns—and certain… Continue reading AI and Literary Translation: Key Questions and Experiments

Talking Translation and AI @ St. Michael’s College

I’ve been thinking through the stimulating couple of days I got to spend at the invitation of Kristin Dykstra at St. Michael’s College (SMC) last week. The subject of my talk, and the reason for my visit, was AI and translation. The presentation, entitled “Is It Good? AI Tools, The Practice of Translating, and Inter-cultural… Continue reading Talking Translation and AI @ St. Michael’s College

AI and Literary Translation: A Global Consideration

I’m just back from the 48th annual ALTA conference, in Tucson, AZ. At the panel I participated in (thank you to co-panelists Lisa Bradford and Steve Bradbury!), Amy Stolls, formerly of the NEA, suggested that a short guide to the use of AI in literary translation might be helpful to, as she put it, “people… Continue reading AI and Literary Translation: A Global Consideration

A Bit of Rudy Panko

While teaching this semester’s graduate seminar on Nikolai Gogol/Mykola Hohol, I noticed how inadequate all the existing translations of the earlier works are. The author’s distinctive style barely peeks through what often feels like basically explanatory prose in all the English versions. I also came to the conclusion that Gogol’s very first book is his… Continue reading A Bit of Rudy Panko

Trusting Up to Thirty

Thirty is the number I have somewhat arbitrarily taken as my limit number for Introduction to Russian Culture for the coming semester: ten artifacts/episodes from “Old” Russian culture, ten artifacts/episodes from “imperial” Russian culture, and another ten from the (again rather arbitrarily designated) post-1917 to the present “period.” I say arbitrary, but there’s an organizational… Continue reading Trusting Up to Thirty

Chat GPT Translation Test No. 2

Since a reader questioned whether Chat GPT had perhaps filched my own translation of the Jergović text I tried out in my previous test, I am trying it with a text that hasn’t been translated into English yet to my knowledge (if anyone knows otherwise, please send word!). This time I just prompted it to… Continue reading Chat GPT Translation Test No. 2

Rytkheu Panel Next Week

I’ll be participating in a roundtable next week (March 22, 1:30pm EDT; 5:30pm GMT & 6:30pm CET) devoted to the work of Chukchi author Yuri Rytkheu. The virtual event, organized by the Russian and East European Institute as part of a series on indigenous and under-represented writers from Russian-speaking spaces, will be hosted by my… Continue reading Rytkheu Panel Next Week