Languages and culture

Student wearing headset

Heriot-Watt University has built a very distinctive profile in research and teaching over the last 40 years through its expertise in translating and interpreting. Other areas of focus include sign language, specific areas of society and culture, and second language acquisition. Languages included in the university's teaching and research portfolio include Arabic, British Sign Language (BSL), Chinese, English for Academic Purposes, French, German, and Spanish.

School of Social Sciences (SoSS)

The School of Social Sciences (SoSS) is an integrated, research-driven community, delivering cutting edge theoretical understandings in conjunction with practical and policy-oriented insight with increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary endeavour.
 
The Centre for Translation & Interpreting Studies in Scotland (CTISS) is internationally renowned for its calibre of research which has been developed over more than 40 years. CTISS brings together research expertise in number of disciplines including translation studies, interpreting and applied language studies, the Centre's work informs the thinking of government, industry and public bodies in the UK, Europe and beyond.
 
The Intercultural Research Centre (IRC) addresses key intercultural issues arising from the changing global context. It makes original contributions to the study of interculturality with particular reference to dimensions of living culture in European societies. The Centre's particular focus is on comparative work emphasising the applied dimensions of culture, with "culture" defined broadly in anthropological terms. The School contributes expertise in languages, interpreting, policy and international cultures to the Scottish Institute of Policing Research (SIPR).

Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR)

The Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), is a strategic collaboration between 12 of Scotland's universities and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, funded by the Scottish Funding Council, offering a range of opportunities for conducting relevant, applicable research to help the police meet the challenges of the 21st century and for achieving international excellence for policing research in Scotland.