At this session of the Translation Lunch Series organized by the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication (PTIC), students will be introduced to Red T and its advocacy work. They will learn about the hazards of their chosen profession, in particular, the challenges associated with working in such high-risk settings as sites of political unrest, war zones, and the terrorism arena. They will also hear about various Red T initiatives, among them the Open Letter Project – a solidary undertaking with the five major international language organizations AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters), FIT (International Federation of Translators), IAPTI (International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters), CLI (Critical Link International), and WASLI (World Association of Sign Language Interpreters) – as well as efforts to obtain protected-person status for linguists in conflict situations.

The PTIC is an interdisciplinary center for the study of translation within the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. In the words of its Program Director Prof. David Bellows, “it seeks to allow students to develop skills in language use and in the understanding of cultural and disciplinary difference. Translation across languages allows access to issues of intercultural differences, and the program will encourage its students to think about the complexity of communicating across cultures, nations, and linguistic borders.”