The MA/Postgraduate Diploma in Conference Interpreting is designed to equip you with the knowledge and advanced interpreting skills required for a career in conference interpreting. All our interpreting trainers are practising conference interpreters in language combinations that reflect market demands. Most trainers are also AIIC members. For a detailed list of regular and visiting trainers and their professional backgrounds, please visit: http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/translation-and-intercultural-studies/about/people/external-trainers/
The programme offers simultaneous and consecutive interpreting training in five languages - French, German, Spanish, Russian and Chinese. These are key languages in international organisations such as the UN and EU and are also in demand on the freelance market.
The MA/Postgraduate Diploma in Conference Interpreting can be studied over one year (full-time) or two years (part-time). Part-time study is strongly supported and is actively facilitated in the timetabling of teaching hours for the MA, wherever possible.
Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip)
The Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) in Conference Interpreting is a slightly shorter course available for students who do not wish to complete a professional portfolio or research dissertation.
Two distinct conference interpreter profiles
As a prospective student, you will offer one of two profiles, reflecting the two distinct profiles of practising conference interpreters:
Why Manchester?
The University of Manchester's MA/PG Diploma in Conference Interpreting is designed to offer intensive training to enable students to develop the necessary skills for a career as a professional conference interpreter. Class sizes are kept small, to ensure that students can receive individualised feedback. This in turn enables students to progress at their own pace. Students develop their interpreting skills under the guidance of a core team of interpreter trainers - all of whom have worked for international organisations such as the EU or UN, either as staff or on a freelance basis. In addition, students attend professional skills master classes, in which visiting conference interpreters and potential employers offer insights into the profession.
We have two interpreting suites equipped with 12 booths and Brähler consoles used widely in the profession.
Internationally recognised
The course design reflects best practice criteria set out by the internationally recognised professional body for conference interpreters, AIIC (the International Association of Conference Interpreters). It includes a module specifically focused on professional development, allowing students to focus on the contexts in which they can expect to work as conference interpreters. To ensure that students have an understanding of the dynamics of interpreting in multilingual meetings, simulated conferences are run during the second semester, during which interpretation is provided from several languages. Students considering a career in research benefit from MACINT's location within the Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies - with staff research interests ranging from translation and conflict to the interpreting profession.
We strive to keep our course up-to-date with the latest developments in the profession and to find ways to make our course as useful and relevant as possible. To that end in 2015 we introduced the following exciting changes:
Additional simultaneous training
We now offer a four-week advanced simultaneous training course to MA students following their final exams. The aim is to give students a further opportunity to bring the standard of their interpreting up to the level required of professional conference interpreters. After the training, students wishing to complete the MA will produce a piece of written work outlining their preparation for a hypothetical interpreting assignment. Students will be encouraged to pick a meeting for which webcasts and documentation are available online, prepare, and then test the effectiveness of their preparation by having a go interpreting from the webcast.
For an additional fee, PG Dip students and graduates from other universities can attend this extra training period if the relevant language groups are running.
Subject-specific training to enhance background knowledge
A new module was introduced to increase students' knowledge of subject-matter that they are likely to encounter as interpreters. This includes the workings of major international organisations (e.g. EU, UN), diplomacy, international law, economics and foreign policy.
Additional language
Students taking the postgraduate diploma will be offered an opportunity, as part of their course, to work on a new or existing language by enrolling on one of the university's language courses.
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Develop high-level interpreting and translation skills on this challenging programme, where you’ll use state-of-the-art technology to gain the knowledge base and practical skills to succeed in the language services industry.
You’ll gain essential skills in interpreting, active listening and note-taking, then practice specialised consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in our conference suites. This two-language programme enables you to interpret from two other languages into English. You can choose from optional modules on topics such as genre analysis and machine translation, or specialised translation in your chosen language pair.
Contracted practitioners and leading academics come together in our Centre for Translation Studies. Recommended by the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), this exciting programme will prepare you to succeed in a competitive sector.
Centre for Translation Studies
We have excellent facilities and resources to support your studies. Our conference suites are equipped with single and double interpreter booths, and a video link to practice remote interpreting. If you choose to study translation, the Electronic Resources and Information Centre (ERIC) will be the centre of your translation work, complete with 59 high-spec PCs and a wide range of specialist software for translation and subtitling.
The Centre for Translation Studies benefits from close links with organisations such as the Institute for Translation and Interpreting as well as the EU and UN (in Geneva and Vienna). This programme is regulated by a Memorandum of Understanding between the University and the Directorate General for Interpretation and Conferences of the European Parliament – a testament to our success in training conference interpreters.
It’s a great opportunity to prepare for a career in the language services industry in a city that’s full of cultural and linguistic diversity.
The University of Leeds is recommended by AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) for its interpreting training.
This programme focuses entirely on conference interpreting. Unlike the MA, translation modules are entirely optional and you don’t have to complete a summer project. Because this is the two-language programme, you’ll train to interpret from two other languages into English. We don’t offer training in any combination of languages that doesn’t include your first language.
In your first semester you’ll begin to develop your interpreting skills and be able to choose from optional modules on specialised translation, or topics related to our tutors’ research interests like public speaking and genre analysis in translation.
You’ll build on this in the following semester, when you’ll practice your skills in simultaneous and consecutive and bilateral interpreting.
Please see our admissions web pages for a list of available language pairs.
For more information on typical modules, read Conference Interpreting PGDip in the course catalogue
Our interpreting trainers are practicing professionals with experience of working in international organisations, as well as on the private market. We use a range of teaching and learning methods to help you benefit from their expertise including workshops, lectures, seminars, practicals and other supervised practice. Independent study is also an important part of the programme.
We use different forms of assessment, depending on the types of modules you choose. Normally these will include essays, assignments and reports as well as exams, in-course oral assessment and occasionally case studies. Translation modules will also include translation tests.
Postgraduate qualifications from the Centre for Translation Studies are prestigious and respected. They equip you with valuable skills to succeed in a thriving and competitive industry, as well as advanced communication, research, IT and analytical skills.
Graduates from our interpreting programmes are working in some of the world’s leading government bodies, media organisations, NGOs, private companies and international political organisations. These include the BBC, UN, EU, World Bank, World Trade Organization, SAP and translation companies such as thebigword and SDL.
We work alongside you to support you in developing and then achieving your career goals. You’ll discuss your customized personal development plan with your personal tutor.
In addition you’ll have the chance to attend our Research and Professionalisation Talks by visiting speakers, many of whom are currently practicing translators, interpreters, project managers and subtitlers for some of the world’s largest organisations.
Read more about Graduate Destinations
Develop high-level interpreting and translation skills on this challenging degree, where you’ll use state-of-the-art technology to gain the knowledge base and practical skills to succeed in the language services industry.
You’ll gain essential skills in interpreting, active listening and note-taking, then build on this foundation by practicing specialised consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in our conference suites. At the same time, you’ll deepen your understanding of translation theory and practice. You can also choose from optional modules informed by the leading research of our staff such as genre analysis, corpus linguistics, computer-assisted translation and machine translation.
Contracted practitioners and leading academics come together in our Centre for Translation Studies. Recognised by the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), this exciting programme will prepare you to succeed in a competitive and rewarding sector.
Centre for Translation Studies
We have excellent facilities and resources to support your studies. Our conference suites are equipped with single and double interpreter booths, and a video link to practice remote interpreting. The Electronic Resources and Information Centre (ERIC) will be the centre of your translation work, complete with 59 high-spec PCs and a wide range of specialist software for translation and subtitling.
The Centre for Translation Studies benefits from close links with organisations such as the Institute for Translation and Interpreting as well as the EU and UN (in Geneva and Vienna). This programme is regulated by a Memorandum of Understanding between the University and the Directorate General for Interpretation and Conferences of the European Parliament – a testament to our success in training conference interpreters.
It’s a great opportunity to prepare for a career in the language services industry in a city that’s full of cultural and linguistic diversity.
Throughout the year you’ll be introduced to the key methods and approaches in translation studies in a core module. In your first semester you’ll also begin to develop interpreting skills and work on specialized translation in your chosen languages. You may continue with translation in the following semester, while you’ll build on your interpreting skills by practicing simultaneous and consecutive and bilateral interpreting.
In either semester, you can choose optional modules on topics like public speaking and genre analysis in translation. You’ll also complete a summer project by the end of the course in September, which could be either a dissertation or two extended pieces of translation work.
All translation modules are offered INTO English, though for some languages we also offer a FROM English module. Because this is the two-language pathway for this programme, you will only be able to interpret FROM each language INTO English. We don’t offer training in any combination of languages that doesn’t include your first language.
Please see our admissions web pages for a list of available language pairs.
Year 1 Compulsory modules
Our interpreting trainers are practicing professionals with experience of working in international organisations, as well as on the private market. We use a range of teaching and learning methods to help you benefit from their expertise including workshops, lectures, seminars, practicals and other supervised practice. Independent study is also an important part of the programme.
We use different forms of assessment, depending on the types of modules you choose. Normally these will include essays, assignments and reports as well as exams, in-course oral assessment and occasionally case studies. Translation modules will also include translation tests.
Postgraduate qualifications from the Centre for Translation Studies are prestigious and respected. They equip you with valuable skills to succeed in a thriving and competitive industry, as well as advanced communication, research, IT and analytical skills.
Graduates from our interpreting programmes are working in some of the world’s leading government bodies, media organisations, NGOs, private companies and international political organisations. These include the BBC, UN, EU, World Bank, World Trade Organization, SAP and translation companies such as thebigword and SDL.
We work alongside you to support you in developing and then achieving your career goals. You’ll discuss your customized personal development plan with your personal tutor.
In addition you’ll have the chance to attend our Research and Professionalisation Talks by visiting speakers, many of whom are currently practicing translators, interpreters, project managers and subtitlers for some of the world’s largest organisations.
Read more about Graduate Destinations
This course prepares you to enter an exciting and vibrant industry encompassing conferences and exhibitions, cultural and sporting events, festivals and personal events. You study how these are planned, managed and evaluated.
The focus of the course is on the strategic role events play in a modern society, and how they contribute to organisational and community objectives. The most recent evolutions in event strategy are at the core of the course, based on the research of our 25-strong academic research team.
Sheffield Hallam University is one of the top providers of events courses in the UK. As a founder member of the Association of Event Management Educators (AEME), we are involved in establishing academic benchmarks in events education. This innovative course has an innovative format based on a new learning and assessment strategy that puts you at its centre.
You take three core modules designed to replicate the real world, where problems are solved in an integrated way. Instead of studying topics such as events marketing, finance or operations separately, you learn how strategic decisions involve multiple business areas at once. You gain experience problem-solving real or simulated case studies, working with live projects and real clients.
You also choose an option module and complete a work-based-learning module focusing on the event sector of your interest. You are supported by our teaching team, who have a variety of professional backgrounds.
Every year 300 large events take place in Yorkshire, including sporting, cultural, arts, and festival events. We have strong relationships with event organisers, so you have the chance to gain experience behind the scenes at many of these events. Our students were recently involved in • the Grand Depart for the Tour De France • the Children's Media Conference • Sheffield Doc/Fest • Sheffield's Chinese New Year celebrations.
We have strong links with the events community and are founders of the Events Hub, an informal and friendly community where practitioners come together to share experiences and ideas.
The placement option offers you an additional opportunity to develop your practical skills, either in the UK or abroad. We help you gain a placement by running employability workshops and have dedicated placement team to support you. Placement opportunities exist in organisations such as • the Ritz-Carlton Hotel • Martins Food Ltd • Gleneagles Hotel and Resort • Wanlin Dance School • the World Duty Free Group.
The course is based on the following principles
Full-time
September start – typically 12 months or 18 to 24 months with optional work experience
January start – typically 15 months
Part-time
typically three years
Core modules
Options
You also choose one module from
September start modules*
January start modules*
* To be confirmed
The events industry is an increasingly competitive marketplace. This makes a postgraduate qualification a valuable asset for employees as it demonstrates their ability and specialised skills and knowledge.
Opportunities for industry-qualified professionals are extensive in private, voluntary or government organisations. These range from large multinationals to small family businesses and public authorities.
There are excellent career opportunities in organisations including • conference and exhibition centres • hotels • events agencies • government agencies • associations and other third sector organisations • corporate businesses.
You can also continue with further study by completing a PhD or Doctorate in Business Administration.
Social researchers employ a constantly evolving range of qualitative and quantitative methods to explore attitudes and experiences, and to understand patterns of social behaviour.
This programme won't just train you in the application of specific research techniques: it will illuminate the connections between sociological theory and empirical research, and relate research to the development of public policy and the analysis of substantive social issues.
Wider issues of the social research process are also covered and include: the planning and management of research projects; the methodological, theoretical, philosophical and ethical aspects of research; and the presentation and publication of research findings.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
On the MSc Social Research Methods, we offer the opportunity to take four weeks of work experience during the Easter vacation. This will provide you with first-hand experience of large-scale and real-life research in action.
Where the full period is not practical, as may be the case for part-time students, it is also possible to take up the opportunity of a shorter period of two to four weeks, usually during the summer. Work experience is arranged with the help of the Department’s placement tutor.
Please note that while we try to meet all requests for work experience, in some cases it may not be possible.
Thomas Asdell Bursary
Thanks to the generosity of the family of former student Thomas Asdell the department can offer a bursary of £1000 to one new MSc student for 2017/18- please email the course director for details.
Sociology Scholarships
Two scholarships of up to £3,000 will be available across all Sociology MSc programmes, to be awarded on a competitive basis to self-funding students accepting an offer of a place on the MSc for the academic year 2017/18.
Both types of scholarship will be paid in the form of a fee remission of the appropriate amount, and will be open to both home and overseas students. Part-time students will be eligible to apply and, if successful, will receive a scholarship which is reduced pro rata but may be continued for a second year of study subject to successful completion of the first year.
The MSc Social Research Methods includes a residential conference, usually in November.
The conference provides an opportunity for discussion in an informal atmosphere, around current research issues and debates, technologies and methods at the forefront of social research; it includes lectures from eminent guest speakers and members of staff, seminars and small group discussions.
The Department also organises a day conference for MSc students at the University, with student presentations and guest speakers.
The Department of Sociology is internationally recognised as a centre of research excellence. A particular area of strength is research methodology and research training.
Members of staff undertake a wide variety of internationally renowned individual scholarship including work on gender, employment, organisations, cross-national survey, culture, ethnicity, sociological theory, environment, youth and identities, sociology of sleep and the sociology of social policy.
The Department’s commitment to developing technical competence in research methods, and encouraging the use of appropriate information and communication technologies in social research, is reflected in the fact that it houses the UK national centre for software for qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS).
The Department runs a successful international fellowship scheme which enables international researchers to visit Surrey each year. These strengths in research, and in innovative research methods in particular, feed into our master’s-level teaching and inform the continued updating of content within modules.
The main aims of the programme are to:
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
The combination of analytic criminological knowledge and applied research skills on this programme will equip you with a sophisticated understanding of the key challenges and perspectives in contemporary criminology.
The Masters in Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Research is aimed at graduates and practitioners with an appropriate first degree who seek advanced knowledge about issues connected with crime, deviance, control, the criminal justice system and social research.
It will also suit graduates and practitioners considering a PhD in this area; and practitioners in the criminal justice system and related government and voluntary agencies who wish to develop their understanding of the wider issues connected to crime.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
Students are encouraged to take up opportunities for experiential learning in workplace settings, providing extended opportunities for work experience and career development in professional research settings.
The department supports students in finding three-to-four week research placements during Spring and Summer vacation periods, and this approach has recently been supplemented to include strategies of support for students seeking a wider range of opportunities for professional development in the first-hand experience of research organisation – including such activities as part-time internships over longer periods, workplace visits, or shadowing research professionals.
This introduces further flexibility in a student-led process of professional development in light of increasing external pressures on students’ commitments and responsibilities. All, however, involve opportunities to consider issues in career development and professional skills.
The support process involves the Department working closely with students on a one-to-one basis toward their goals and requirements, in association with the University’s Careers Service, to offer pastoral advice and support.
Organisations the department has worked with in the past have included the Office of National Statistics, Cabinet Office, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Sussex Youth Offending team and Surrey Police.
In some cases the work experience may also be with projects in academic contexts. Students seek experiential learning opportunities with the support of the Department’s Senior Placement Tutor, and assistance from the Faculty Placement Office.
The MSc in Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Research (CCJSR) provides a thorough grounding in the discipline of criminology combined with advanced training in the full range of qualitative and quantitative methods of social research.
It is designed to meet the needs of students graduating from a first degree who have an interest in crime and the criminal justice system, people who are currently employed and wish to apply a knowledge of criminological research within their present job, or those who wish to move into a criminological research career.
The degree provides an ideal foundation to undertake a part-time or full-time PhD.
The degree is suitable for a wide range of students in terms of age, professional background, and current occupation and circumstances.
Because of this diversity of experience, students on the degree learn a great deal from each other, including at the residential Weekend Conference in the middle of the first semester, and the Day Conference at the end of the first semester.
The full-time MSc is taught over 12 months and the part-time course over 24 months. Students who do not wish to undertake the Masters dissertation can obtain the Postgraduate Certificate in Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Research after gaining 60 credits, or the Postgraduate Diploma after gaining 120 credits.
Students studying for the MSc in full-time mode are required to submit their dissertation during the academic year in which they commenced registration.
It is expected that students studying part-time will have obtained a minimum of 60 credits by the end of the first 12 months of registration in order to proceed into the second year.
A distinctive component of the MSc is the opportunity to undertake a placement at a criminal justice agency or research institute for four weeks during the spring break. The practical experience and insights gained reinforce formal learning.
A residential weekend conference is attended by all programme members, PhD students and teaching staff in November.
This provides a less formal atmosphere for discussions concerning criminology, research and related themes; it includes lectures from eminent guest speakers and members of staff, seminars and small group discussions.
The Department also organises a day conference for MSc students at the University, with student presentations and guest speakers.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
This innovative course combines cutting-edge 21st-century critical approaches with a range of literary and cultural texts and contexts from the 19th century onwards, enabling you to range widely or to specialise in a particular period.
It enables you to develop your independence as a researcher, skills as a writer, and originality as a critic in a supportive and structured environment.
Key features
Course structure
Core modules
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
At postgraduate level it is important that you take an active role in structuring your learning experience, and engage with the relevant methods and underpinning theories of the disciplines you encounter.
We recognise that students embark on their study with different levels of skills and awareness of the discipline. This programme incorporates regular tutor contact and provides a firm foundation of research, interpretation and writing skills, as well as introducing a range of theoretical approaches. You can choose your own specialisms and negotiate to be assessed in ways that suit your current interests and future aspirations.
How you are assessed
This programme offers different types of assessment including a portfolio of short pieces, conference paper, dissertation, essays, and negotiated projects that can adopt a wide range of styles and formats, provided they meet the assessment criteria. There are no exams.
Our MA English equips you with all the skills necessary to pursue an academic career. Your research, writing and interpretation skills developed as part of MA study also enhance your employability in a range of roles and careers in an increasingly competitive graduate marketplace.
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