Welcome to the final week of the theme semester, which begins this evening (5-8) with our Translation Showcase in North Quad! There will be exhibits of student projects and prizes for theme semester contests. Winners listed below!

There will also be an opportunity to play That Translation Game! at the Showcase. The game was created for ipad as a theme semester project, to play inside and outside the classroom. Read more in LSA Today.

That Translation Game! was funded by a NINI Grant from LSA Instructional Technology. The development team was led by Christi Merrill (Comparative Literature) and Johnathon Beals (Language Resource Center), with help from staff and students in LSA and the School of Engineering, the School of Information, and the School of Education, including Hans Anderson, Caitlin Barta, Alex Migicovksy, Evan Moss, Pranay Sethi, Patrick Tonks, and Jen Steiner Tonks.

Upcoming Events, December 10-14

Translation Showcase—see below
Monday, December 10, 5-8pm, North Quad

Global Arabic Poetry Reading—Enjoy recitations in Arabic by the poets themselves and translations into English by Michigan students. Eight poets will join live via videoconferencing: Zainab Laith (Bahrain), Ahmad Al Shahawy (Cairo), Nizar Chakroun (Tunisia), Driss Allouch (Morrocco), Saadiah Mufarreh (Kuwait), Musa Hawamdeh (Jordan), Ibtesam Al-Mutwakel (Yemen), Abdul Nabi Bazzi (Lebanon-Canada).
Friday, December 14, 4-6pm, 2011 Modern Languages Building

Schedule for the Translation Showcase
Monday December 10, 2012

4-6:00 pm Student Exhibits, “Translating Medicine: Medical French” in North Quad Media Gateway
5-6:30 pm Student Exhibits, “Translating Medicine: Medical Spanish” in North Quad Media Gateway
5-6:00 pm Presentation of Theme Semester Prizes in 2435 North Quad
6-8pm Exhibit in 2435 North Quad of student prizes, theme semester activities, and projects for theme semester courses, including the Sophomore Initiative Course: “22 Ways To Think About Translation”

Presentation of Theme Semester Prizes
5-6pm, in 2435 North Quad

Video Contest, sponsored by LSA Translation Theme Semester: Where in your world do you see translation? (Winner to be announced!)

• Finalist: Miranda Ajulufoh: “Students at UM: Where do we see translation?”
• Finalist: Madeline Moore: “Kopitonez A Cappella Group: We sing songs in different languages”
• Finalist: Rena Steed: “UM Undergraduate Composers: We translate silent film into music”

Creative Translation Prizes, sponsored by LSA Translation Theme Semester: Translate a poem into another medium

• Komal Govil and Unique Moffett, “Tu Risa” (poem by Pablo Neruda “translated” into choreography for two dancers)
• Ah Sun Kim and Katherine Marion, “Vitamina X” (poem by Luis Llorens Torres “translated” into lullaby for two voices)
• Anthea Mitchell, “Ape” (poem by Russell Edson “translated” into graphic art)
• Corey Smith, “l/a” (poem by e.e. cummings “translated” into a musical composition for solo piano)

Theme Semester Essay Contest, sponsored by the Department of Political Science and LSA Student Government: How do you translate justice?

• Jennifer Xu, Essay on writing an article about autism for The Michigan Daily

Translation Theme Semester Contest, sponsored by the Modern Greek Program: “It’s All GRΣΣΚ to Me!”

• David Catalan, “Touch of Spice” (translation of a scene from a Greek film)
• Sundai Johnson, “Where” (poem) Abbey Roggenbruck, “Meditation on Ruins” (essay and photograph)
• Nicole Sappingfield, “Agora at Thessaloniki” (prose poem)
• Dimitri Roumanis, “The Pyrgo of Elia” (travel essay)

Theme Semester Prize, sponsored by Contexts for Classics: How do you translate Homer?

• Ana Maria Guay, “The Parting of Andromache and Hector” (poem)

German Department Open-Book Translation Contest

• 1st place, Steve Bareis
• 2nd place, Brianna Felten
• 3rd place, Nils Stannik

Theme Semester Prizes in Literary Translation, sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature

• Brianna Felten, “On the Waterfront” (from “Am Ufer” by Heinrich Boll, translated from German)
• Katherine Klaric, “Bone to Bone” (poetry by Vasko Popa, translated from Serbian)
• Todd Maslyk, “The Lay of the Nibelungs” (stanzas 913-998, translated into prose from German)
• Libo Zeng, “Autumn” and “Winter” (poems by Mu Dan, translated from Chinese)