Crossroads

Crossroads VI

September 28-30, 2018

Crossroads VI explored representations of dissent, incompatibility, and internally flawed speech/discourse, as well as works, be they literary, filmic, or performative, that embody the contradictory, and resist consensus by emphasizing conflict as a productive strategy.

The keynote speaker was Frances Negrón-Muntaner from Columbia University. 

Crossroads V

Oct. 7-9, 2016

"Crossroads V: Bodily Modernities: Comparing, Intersecting, and Dismembering" brought together students from dozens of universities who delivered papers on a variety of topics, including gender, sexuality and queer studies; race and ethnicity; bodies and consumerism; visual arts, body arts, and performance studies; and bodies, violence, and war. 

The keynote speaker was Laura Winkiel from the University of Colorado Boulder.  

Crossroads IV

October 10-12, 2014

With a over dozen participants from as many universities, including Leiden, Alberta, Columbia, SUNY Buffalo, Emory, and USA, panels were held on topics such as The Limits of the Center, Spreading Roots, and Routes and Translation. Special events included an alternative careers roundtable.

The keynote address was given by Valerie Henitiuk from Grant MacEwan University.

Crossroads III

October 5-7, 2012

Crossroads III interrogated the discipline and the profession of comparative literature and celebrated or problematized places of encounter, moments of discovery, instances of difference, and especially the creative possibilities arising from an array of failed efforts, unexpected outcomes, unresolved conflicts, interrupted communications, elusive subjectivities, or unfinished works.

The keynote address was given by Lisa Zunshine, Bush-Holbrook Professor from the University of Kentucky.

Crossroads II

October 9-10, 2010

In the spirit of its inaugural conference in 2008, Crossroads II continued the exploration of the possibilities of the inter-discipline of Comparative Literature that spans Literary Studies, Art History, Film Studies, Ethnic Studies, Pedagogies, and Activism.

The keynote speaker was Haun Saussy, Bird White Housum Professor of Comparative Literature from Yale University.

Crossroads I

October 11-12, 2008

Our first interdisciplinary conference was held in 2008 with the aim of facilitating a student dialogue on the extraordinary outcomes of cultural encounters, national and ideological borders, disciplines in interaction, the overlapping of distinct historical periods, the interweaving of literary genres, the symbiosis between academics and social change, and the foreplays between rhetorics of war, freedom, memory, and silence.

Conference in Translation Studies

Ethics in Translation and Interpreting

April 2-3, 2021

This year's remote conference welcomed graduate students from 14 different countries, all with a common interest in investigating current ethical topics in our field. Scholars based in universities around the world, from Australia to Italy, Ireland to China, Kashmir to Brazil, working with a rich variety of languages and methods, navigated a tangle of time differences to share their current research. Themes including identity in literature, translation and war, erasure and omission, hybrid languages, translation and interpreting pedagogy, machine translation, and the role of emotions in interpretation were addressed over a weekend filled with fascinating panels, lively conversations, and Brazilian music by Haley Peltz and Rafael Freire. Participants enjoyed a literary translation workshop led by Professor Corine Tachtiris and a book raffle. 

The keynote address, “The Interpreter as Critic,” was delivered by human rights activist and interpretation theorist Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas from Florida International University. 

Graduate Student Conference in Translation Studies

April 23-24, 2015

Graduate students from nine universities attended the conference - eight from UMass Amherst, seven from its co-sponsor Binghamton University,  and others from Ottawa, University of Texas San Antonio, Kent State, Alabama and as far away as Cairo and Oslo.  Translations from and into languages including Arabic, Spanish, French, Irish, Yiddish, Polish, Italian, Korean, German, and Norwegian.  Topics ranged from translation and communities, texts and media, translation in conflict zones, bodies and gender, ethics, and memory in translation. Literary translation workshops were held by Professors Jim Hicks and Regina Galasso. 

Reading Between the Lines: Interdisciplinary Dialogue in an Expanding Field

April 27-28, 2013

"Reading Between the Lines: Interdisciplinary Dialogue in an Expanding Field" aimed to cross disciplinary lines and foster dialogue concerning the question of translation and its role in other fields, such as sociology, philosophy, communications, and the natural sciences. Papers discussed translation as a tool for exchanging ideas, whether they be artistic, linguistic, cultural, technical or theoretical and the idea that no discipline can escape the use of translation, and every discipline can benefit from it. The conference provided a forum for young researchers from diverse backgrounds and academic fields to share their common interest in translation and its broad applications.

Amherst-Binghamton Translation Studies Conference IV

May 3-4, 2011

This co-sponsored event with Binghamton University focused on interdisciplinarity. It provided a forum for the exchange of ideas as well as an environment for examining research projects under the guidance of more experienced peers, accomplished scholars, and senior experts. A panel entitled "Ethics and Translation" was convened with distinguished international scholars working on different aspects of translation and ethics: Rosemary Arrojo, Edwin Gentzler, Moira Inghilleri, Carol Maier, Francoise Massardier-Kenney, and Maria Tymoczko.