1. History of the Department

Undergraduate education in translation at our university was first started in the 1996-1997 academic year under the name of the German Translation Department within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The translation education structure, which expanded with the establishment of the French Translation Department in the 1997-1998 academic year, carried out its educational activities independently and separately as the French and German Translation Departments for two years; Since 2000-2001, it has been combined under one roof in the Translation Department. At the end of 2022, in line with the decision of YÖK, in the context of the formation of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the name of the department changed and became the Department of Translation and Interpreting with three preparatory classes and two undergraduate programs.

2. Teaching Structure

In the Department of Translation, an additional 1(+1) year of preparatory class education is offered in addition to the eight-semester (four-year) undergraduate program. In one year of preparatory class education, students are provided with basic foreign language knowledge and skills, and students who pass the proficiency exam can start a four-year undergraduate education. Although the preparatory class is compulsory, students who pass the exemption exam held on the dates specified in the academic calendar each year can directly proceed to undergraduate education.

While in the first two years of undergraduate education, students are provided with compulsory courses that will help them develop foreign language proficiency, field knowledge, and other determinants of translation skills (mother tongue awareness, text production skills and language sensitivity, world and cultural knowledge, etc.), in the third and fourth years of education, in accordance with the Bologna Process, education is carried out mainly within the framework of elective courses aimed at providing specialized skills and knowledge. In this respect, the main goal of the Translation Department is to provide students with a versatile education to acquire the competencies required for the translation profession.

In order to achieve this purpose, the education-training program includes courses that develop basic language skills, as well as theoretical and practical courses that aim to develop translation skills such as translation methods and strategies, terminology and specialized field knowledge. Along with courses that deal with the history of language, culture, thought and literature, courses that cover current issues in translation such as localization and translation technologies are also included in the elective courses.

3. Profession Profiles

The teaching contents and plans presented in the program generally aim to enable students to achieve satisfactory competence in perceiving, understanding, developing and meeting communicative needs in a multicultural world. Different approaches developed in classroom environments are handled with an understanding that always takes into account the holistic perspective of the concept of translation. Graduates of the Translation Department are primarily qualified to work as written and oral translators in public institutions and organizations or in the private sector. Our graduates who receive the title of translator and interpreter can work as translators in translation offices, foreign country representations, ministries, international organizations (including trade, economy, business world, culture and arts, publishing, etc.), publishing houses, export and import companies, sports clubs, health institutions and the tourism sector. Among the graduates, there may also be academic candidates who can carry out effective studies in the field of Translation Studies, which is a rich and dynamic discipline. Among the graduates, there may also be academic candidates who can carry out effective studies in the field of Translation Studies, which is a rich and dynamic discipline.

4. Academic Environment and Staff

The Department of Translation and Interpreting currently carries out its academic and teaching activities in two departments with 2 Professors, 2 Associate Professors, 3 Assistant Professors, 2 Dr. Lecturers, 1 Dr. Research Assistant and 3 Lecturer in Preparatory Classes. While intensive efforts and initiatives continue to recruit external personnel to make the teaching staff more suitable and satisfactory for current conditions, promotions are also taking place within the academic staff. In order for our department to carry out its education and training activities efficiently, 4 classrooms, 1 seminar room, a library and an oral translation laboratory were allocated in the A2 building of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

5. Mission and culture of the department

The main mission of the Translation Department is to train competent translators who can work in any field where written and oral translation is required in multilingual and multicultural communication environments. In this context, the general learning environment within the department has been shaped to ensure that our students are individuals who are sensitive to their cultural, mental and cognitive environments (the multi-dimensional world in the broadest sense) in addition to the learning provided by the courses. Whether it is departmental activities, social activities or academic procedures, direct student participation, the culture of mutual consultation and the principle of common reasoning are preserved as much as possible. Within the framework of these fundamental values, the main thing that we care about is the establishment of a sense of responsibility that our students internalize.

Having determined these values ​​and goals, education and training activities are carried out by constantly updating the program design in this direction. The education and training program offered in the Department of Translation is in line with the mission of providing a versatile education that meets the qualifications of the translation profession, which directs the intercultural and international communication processes in the globalizing world. In both German and French Translation and Interpreting programs, English as a second foreign language courses are compulsory courses in every semester of the eight-semester program. In this way, it is aimed for students to gain translation skills in two foreign languages ​​and receive training that will be competent enough to meet the demand for qualified translators in the fields of tourism, international trade, law, media, etc. in the country and the region.

The widespread use of the digital world along with current developments has undoubtedly brought with it an obligation to design radical innovations for the translator profession and the world of translation. In this sense, a design and discussion that will meet these new challenges for the department, including the parameters of translator profiles and professional standards in the future world, seems inevitable. As such, all stakeholders of the department are ready for an intense and dynamic renewal in the coming years.