Unique Partnership with UFSC Celebrated in Florianópolis

Translation and Discourse Studies academics from the University of Birmingham and Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) gathered in Florianópolis on Friday 12 April 2014 to celebrate a unique 27-year partnership, which is thought to be Birmingham’s longest.

The round table was well-attended by students and staff from UFSC and both Professor Michael Toolan - currently teaching at the university - and Dr Gabriella Saldanha were flying the Birmingham flag, discussing their current research. Dr. Marion Fleming-Froy, International Partnerships Co-ordinator at the University of Birmingham also spoke about our engagement with UFSC and Brazil, highlighting the wealth of opportunities on offer at Birmingham for Brazilian students and academics.

UFSCThe event also featured Emeritus Professor Malcolm Coulthard and Honorary Senior Research Fellow Dr Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard who looked back at the 27-year partnership between the two institutions. Professor José Roberto O'Shea from UFSC, who is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Shakespeare Institute, discussed the difficulty of translating the works of William Shakespeare into Portuguese. 

UFSC academics Viviane Heberle, Head of English, Andréia Guerini, Head of Translation Studies and Lincoln Fernandes, Vice-Head of English also spoke at the round table event, which took place on their institution’s Florianópolis campus in Santa Catarina state. 

As well as focusing on research taking place at both universities in the fields of translation and linguistics, the event looked forward to a continuation of the special partnership between Birmingham and UFSC.