Dr Raquel de Pedro Ricoy and Professor Jemina Napier, Heriot-Watt's Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies in the School of Management and Languages, have been successful in obtaining AHRC Research Innovation Grant funding under the Translating Cultures theme. They are the recipients of two of the highly competitive large grants (a maximum of eight awards will be made this year) for two separate projects.
Dr de Pedro Ricoy's project, entitled 'Translating cultures and the legislated mediation of indigenous rights in Peru', to be conducted over 20 months (October 2014 - June 2016), has been awarded over £200,000. The aim of this project is to examine translation and interpreting processes between Spanish and indigenous languages in contexts of consultation between agents of the state, outside bodies and members of the indigenous communities against the background of escalating industrial exploitation of the natural resources lying below indigenous lands. The research team includes Professor Rosaleen Howard (Chair of Hispanic Studies, Newcastle University) and Dr Luis Andrade (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima), and will work with Peru's Ministry of Culture and the NGO Servicios Educativos Rurales as Project Partners. For more information, please contact Dr Raquel de Pedro Ricoy
Professor Napier's project, entitled 'Translating the Deaf Self', to be conducted over 18 months (January 2015- June 2016), has been awarded over £198,000.The aims of this interdisciplinary research project are to investigate translation as constitutive of culture and as pertinent to the well being of Deaf people who sign and rely on mediated communication to be understood and participate in the majority. The deaf-hearing sign bilingual research team, co-led by Professor Napier and Professor Alys Young (Professor of Social Work Education & Research at the University of Manchester) will include deaf researcher Rosemary Oram and another deaf research assistant, and will work with Action Deafness in Leicester as Project Partner. For more information, please contact Professor Jemina Napier