University of Leipzig begins first Catalan Translation Studies in Germany

Leipzig (ACN).- On Tuesday the University of Leipzig inaugurated the first Catalan Translation Studies department in Germany. The university that also offers Galician language studies will be the first in Germany to offer a degree in all four Iberian Romance languages. The project is funded by the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL) with the objective of promoting Catalan beyond the fields of Romance Language Studies and Philology.  Andreu Bosch, the language and university director at the IRL, said that is an “ambitious” project that aims to “broaden the instruction of Catalan Studies” in universities. The department will offer both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Catalan Translation Studies.

Students will also have the possibility of using the Catalan language in their Spanish or French Language Masters’ studies. Classes Catalan language and culture as well as classes of specialised language will also be offered.

The head of the Iberian Romance Languages Department, Carsten Sinner, explained that the addition of translation studies at the University of Leipzig has been very successful. The first trimester already has more than 50 students. “We are very happy. It is the first time that a German university has been able to offer a Catalan Translation Studies degree. It will give the students the title of Catalan-German translators’, said Sinner.

The University of Leipzig is located in eastern Germany. It is the 2nd oldest university in the country. Important thinkers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Nietzsche attended the university.

Besides Leipzig, the IRL has promoted Catalan Language Studies at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Boulder-Colorado in 2010. By April of 2011, they plan to offer classes at the Hosei University of Tokyo.