Date and Time:
Date: October 9
Time: 2:30PM to 4:30 [PDT]
Registration Information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaking-from-the-heart-translating-xinjiangs-diverse-voices-tickets-169526346867
COVID-19 Notice: Please note that we will be requiring masks, identification, and proof of vaccine in line with the public health orders from the Province of British Columbia.
About this event [click here for more information]
Language can serve as an important tool in decolonization; and in the creation of international solidarity and equity. For many, there is a language barrier when it comes to learning more about Xinjiang and its many cultures and current struggles. On the one hand, many victim testimonies collected by grass-roots agencies are only available online in Uyghur and Kazakh languages, and key policy papers and leaked documents in Chinese remain untranslated into English; on the other hand, English-language reporting and academic research are seldom translated into Chinese language. This event, featuring five researchers’ work involving translation testimonies and knowledge to the public, looks at creating an opportunity to include everyone in the conversation, regardless of language ability. We discuss here the importance of empathy and cross-cultural communication in translating the diverse languages and experiences of Xinjiang. This event will make sense of the Xinjiang crisis and discuss the politics and urgency in translation, empathy, and cross-cultural communication.
Speakers:
- Guldana Salimjan, Ruth Wynn Woodward Junior Chair of the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies department at Simon Fraser University.
- Elise Anderson, Senior Program Officer for Research and Advocacy at the Uyghur Human Rights Project
- Kaster Bakyt, a multilingual translator based at Sheffield Hallam University
- Darren Byler, Assistant Professor at the School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University
- Sonya Pritzker, Associate Professor, Anthropology, at the University of Alabama.
Please join us for a reception after the event with complimentary refreshments from 4:30-6:30.
This event is sponsored by the SFU’s Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies; the SFU’s Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies; and the UBC’s School of Public Policy, and Institute of Asia Research. We thank them for their support in facilitating these important conversations.