Reflecting on how I design, deliver and evaluate university courses on the language of politics and business and on translation has helped me to better understand the needs of students and our wider society, and I am excited to be recognized as a Fellow (HEA).
My contributions to course and programme development focus on links between language and community in business, politics and literature. At Duke University, as a Post-doc and Acting Director of the German language programme, I led the Business German strand, taught ab-initio and advanced language courses, German for Research, the Introduction to German Literature, and Literary Translation. To complement offers in contemporary history I developed a unit on German reunification. Once I started working with the University of Bristol, following the sale of my business, I helped develop German and Translation Studies into programmes that strengthen student self-efficacy in the arenas of global entrepreneurship and civic engagement. Over the last five years, 14 out of 20 courses I taught here were in Translation Studies (Industry, Theories, Applied and Specialised Translation); 13 were fully online.
I am pleased that my work has now been deemed worthy of a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. Thank you Carol O’Sullivan and Steffan Davies for supporting my application; to colleagues across the University of Bristol for being great sports, especially in these challenging times; and to all my students for getting me excited about teaching every day!