The Department of Linguistics and Language Practice at the University of the Free State and the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at the University of Stellenbosch, together with ATSA, are cooperating in hosting the 2018 Autumn School for Translation Studies in Africa (ASTSA) from 28 May to 1 June 2018

The school is presented for master's and doctoral students in translation and intercultural studies from all over Africa with the aim of working towards an African agenda for translation studies.

In 2018, ASTSA will be preceded by the first official ATSA Conference on 25 and 26 May 2018.

Aims

The ASTSA aims at providing a voice to translation scholars in Africa. Making this voice heard implies decolonising their own minds. The ASTSA wants to be instrumental in this respect by exposing post-graduate students in translation studies to the most recent trends in translation theory and practice and by creating networks amongst scholars and future scholars for discussing uniquely African notions of translation.

These aims include:

• contributing to the development aims of NEPAD and the AU, amongst others, in facilitating effective communication and the effective dissemination of information in Africa; 
   
• engaging with African thought, African culture, and the interface between oralate and literate communities as dialogue partners for translation studies; 
   
• playing a social-critical role in fostering the decolonisation of the African mind; 
   
• developing a uniquely African agenda for translation studies; 
   
• promoting research in translation studies in Africa, especially empirical research concerning the role of translation in the communication needs in Africa as well as in the development aid community in Africa; 
   
• enhancing research skills in translation studies in Africa; 
   
• offering academics and advanced students in translation studies in Africa the opportunity to meet, debate relevant issues, and network; 
   
• enhancing translator education at African universities; 
   
• enhancing translation practice in Africa; and 
   
• providing the above in Africa in order to make it available to more students at affordable prices.

The ASTSA aims at achieving this by way of the following:

• presenting the ASTSA biannually; 
   
• inviting scholars from Africa to present lectures and conduct workshops; 
   
• inviting one non-African speaker every year to foster dialogue with translation studies across the globe – at least every second year, this speaker should be from a third-world country; 
   
• interacting with scholars in related disciplines, e.g. African Studies, Communication Studies to exploit various approaches to Translation Studies as an interdisciplinary field; and 
   
• presenting topics relevant to African interests in Translation Studies.  

Teaching staff 2018

• Dr M Chibamba (University of Toronto/University of the Free State)
• Prof H Lesch (University of Stellenbosch)
• Dr A Lourens (University of Stellenbosch)
• Prof J Marais (University of the Free State)
• Prof CL Miller-Naudé (University of the Free State)
• Prof JA Naudé (University of the Free State)
• Dr D Orrego Carmona (Aston University/University of the Free State)
• Dr M Swart (University of Stellenbosch)
• Dr D Tekgül (University of the Free State)
• Dr K Wallmach (University of Stellenbosch)

Keynote Speaker

Prof Maria Tymoczko (University of Massachusetts)