Course Description:
This course explores the vital role of language mediation in crisis settings, where rapid, clear, and multilingual communication can save lives. Broadly defining translation to include both written and oral forms of mediation, the course examines how translators and interpreters operate under pressure during emergencies such as natural disasters, public health crises, security incidents, and cross-agency response efforts. Students will gain insights into the operational, emotional, and technical challenges of crisis communication and develop practical skills through case studies and the use of online and automated tools. Emphasis is placed on real-world problem solving and collaborative communication in unpredictable environments.

Course Objectives:
This course aims to equip students with a practical understanding of the challenges and responsibilities involved in multilingual communication during crises. Students will develop the ability to analyze the cognitive and emotional demands placed on language mediators in high-pressure situations and identify the linguistic, cultural, and technical barriers that arise throughout different phases of a crisis. They will learn to apply a range of technologies and communication strategies to support language access in emergency contexts and operate effectively as language-support facilitators in intercultural and multi-agency environments. The course also encourages students to critically assess communication practices and contribute to improving the quality and accessibility of crisis response efforts.

Requirements:
Students are expected to attend all sessions, actively participate in class discussions and group activities, and complete assigned readings before each session. Assessment will be based on participation, a short reflective report, and a final project that applies course concepts to a real or simulated crisis communication scenario. No prior training in translation or interpreting is required, but a strong interest in language, communication, and crisis contexts is essential.

Assigned Readings:
Federici, Federico M. and Christophe Declercq. 2019. Intercultural Crisis Communication. Translation, Interpreting and Languages in Local Crises. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

References:
1. Carla Parra Escartín, Helena Moniz. 2019. Ethical considerations on the use of machine translation and crowdsourcing in cascading crises. Translation in Cascading Crises, Routledge.
2. Federico Federici, Sharon O'Brien. 2019. Cascading crises: Translation as risk reduction. Translation in Cascading Crises, Routledge.
3. Alessandra Rossetti. 2019. Intralingual translation and cascading crises: Evaluating the impact of semi-automation on the readability and comprehensibility of health content. Translation in Cascading Crises, Routledge.
4. Patrick Cadwell, Claudia Bollig, Juliane Ried. 2019. Management and training of linguistic volunteers: A case study of translation at Cochrane Germany Foundation. Translation in Cascading Crises, Routledge.
5. Patrick Cadwell, Sharon O'Brien, Eric DeLuca. 2019. More than tweets : A critical reflection on developing and testing crisis machine translation technology. Translation Spaces, John Benjamins Publishing Company.
6. Matthew Hunt, Sharon O’Brien, Patrick Cadwell, Dónal P. O’Mathúna. 2019. Ethics at the Intersection of Crisis Translation and Humanitarian Innovation. Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, Issue 1/3, 2019, Page(s) 23-32, ISSN 2515-6411.
7. Federico Federici, Minako O'Hagan, Sharon O'Brien, Patrick Cadwell. 2019. Crisis Translation Training Challenges Arising from New Contexts of Translation. Cultus: the Intercultural Journal of Mediation and Communication, Issue 12, Page(s) 246-279, ISSN 2035-2948.
8. Sharon O’Brien, Federico Marco Federici. 2019. Crisis translation: considering language needs in multilingual disaster settings. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, Issue 29/2, Page(s) 129-143, ISSN 0965-3562.
9. Sharon O’Brien, Federico Federici, Patrick Cadwell, Jay Marlowe, Brian Gerber. 2018. Language translation during disaster: A comparative analysis of five national approaches. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Issue 31, Page(s) 627-636, ISSN 2212-4209
10. Federico M. Federici, Patrick Cadwell. 2018. Training citizen translators. Translation Spaces, Issue 7/1, Page(s) 20-43, ISSN 2211-3711.
11. Dónal O'Mathuna, Carla Parra Escartín, Proinsias Roche, Jay Marlowe. 2020. Engaging citizen translators in disasters: Virtue ethics in response to ethical challenges. Translation and Interpreting Studies: Special Issue on Ethics of Non-Professional Translation and Interpreting in Public Services and Legal Settings, ISSN 1932-2798.
12. Alessandra Rossetti, Sharon O'Brien. 2019. Helping the helpers: Evaluating the impact of a controlled language checker on the intralingual and interlingual translation tasks involving volunteer health professionals. Translation Studies: Special Issue 'Social Translation: New Roles, New Actors?', ISSN 1478-1700.

Grading:
1. Coursework (60%)
2. Group project and presentation (15%)
3. Individual report (15%)
4. Participation (10%)

單元主題 Topics for each week
Introduction: A State of Emergency for Crisis Communication in Mediating Emergencies and Conflicts
Translation as risk reduction
Crisis translation: considering language needs in multilingual disaster settings in Disaster Prevention and Management
The Signal Code: A Human Rights Approach to Information During Crisis
Dr. Patrick Cadwell (Dublin City University)
The role of translators and interpreters in cascading crises and disasters: Towards a framework for confronting the challenges
Dr. Patrick Cadwell (Dublin City University)
Problems of risk communication and uncertainty in natural disasters
Dr. Patrick Cadwell (Dublin City University)
Using Social Media for Crisis Response in Using Social and Information Technologies for Disaster and Crisis Management
Dr. Patrick Cadwell (Dublin City University)
Training citizen translators in Translation Spaces