Where in your world do you see translation? Three finalists in the translation theme semester video contest have created their answer to this question. Check out their videos and vote for your favorite!

ENTRY 1: Students at UM, “Where do we see translation?”

Created by Miranda Ajulufoh (with Rachel Jialing Zhou and Komal Govil), all sophomores in LS&A: “Translation is everywhere. Not only do we translate languages but also our pride, our culture, & our countries. Furthermore we even translate knowledge into different media and formats. We also translate our interactions of body gestures into social media and emoticons. The video attempts to show this from a student’s perspective.”

ENTRY 2: UM Student composers, “We translate silent film into music”

Created by Rena Steed, Senior at the School of Music (with members of the Undergraduate Composition Seminar): “As composers of music, we often translate the things we experience into things that others can hear; sounds and musical ideas. This video project was created on the idea of taking a silent film, and collaboratively translating it into music. The music is all improvised, and was performed live with
the video. Music composers and performers (all are undergraduate composition majors): Rena Steed, Nadine Dyskant-Miller, E. Ross Ura, J. Clay Gonzalez, Lucas Grant, Tanner Porter, Joe Lucas, Daniel Sottile, Corey Smith.”

ENTRY 3: Kopitonez A Cappella Group: “We sing songs in different languages”

Created by Madeline Moore, Junior in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures: “Being a member of Kopitonez, the Asian-Interest A Cappella group on campus, I find myself singing songs in languages I do not know. In order to effectively convey the emotions or feeling a song expresses, multiple levels of translation are involved. This video describes the translation of foreign words to words I can understand, to an emotion, to a bodily method of expressing said emotion to our audiences.”

HOW TO VOTE: All students at the University of Michigan are eligible to cast ONE vote for their favorite entry. Send your vote to Patrick Tonks (tonks@umich.edu).

Please submit your vote no later than noon on Friday, December 7. Prizes will be announced on Monday, December 10 at the theme semester Translation Showcase, starting 5pm in Space 2435 North Quad.