Past Events
Annual PG Conference on Re-reading 22nd-23rd May 2025
Olga Tokarczuk's Translators Jennifer Croft and Antonia Lloyd-Jones in Conversation
In March 2025, the Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation’s WRITERS and their TRANSLATORS series featured the works of the 2018 Nobel Prize-winning Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, in conversation with two of her distinguished English translators: Jennifer Croft (USA) and Antonia Lloyd-Jones (UK).
Olga Tokarczuk was scheduled to join the event online but had to withdraw at the last minute. Nevertheless, the event proceeded with a captivating and wide-ranging discussion, expertly chaired by Elwira Grossman, and featuring Croft and Lloyd-Jones. Tokarczuk is the author of more than ten novels, including Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and Flights.
The event was held in hybrid format, with a full in-person audience and many more joining virtually from around the world. The strong turnout highlighted the growing popularity of the Centre’s series.
The conversation explored a variety of topics, from the translators’ personal journeys into the profession to their experiences working with different publishers and navigating the demands of publication. A particular focus was placed on the thinking behind translation choices—especially when dealing with complex or nuanced words and phrases in the original Polish texts.
A Dialogue Between Industry and Academia on Gaming Glasgow, 5th March 2025, 1- 6 pm (UK time)
Organised by Yujia Flavia Jin, a PhD researcher in Comparative Literature at the Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation Studies and a former scriptwriter, this event aimed to bridge academic research and the gaming industry by fostering interdisciplinary connections and career pathways for Arts and Humanities students and staff.
Bringing together leading scholars and industry professionals—including Brian Baglow (Scottish Games Network & Scottish Games Week), Dr Glaire Anderson (University of Edinburgh), Professor Jerome de Groot (University of Manchester), Dr Timothy Peacock (University of Glasgow), and Dr Raphaël Weyland (Ubisoft Montreal)—the event explored the role of video games as research resources and career opportunities in game production. One of the highlights of the event is Dr Glaire Anderson (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Raphaël Weyland (Ubisoft Montreal) discussing the development of the Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Baghdad Codex Feature, offering an original and unique insight into the collaboration between historians and game developers in reconstructing historical settings for interactive media.
This event aimed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between academia and the gaming industry, while showcasing the College’s active engagement in intermedia studies, SHAPE disciplines, and digital media. It will support postgraduate students’ growing interest in careers in the gaming industry by highlighting relevant research and career development resources, with a roundtable in the end with guest speakers from various backgrounds. Additionally, the event promoted networking and collaboration between universities and the gaming sector, enhancing employability and fostering potential publications and research outputs in video game studies, integrating this field into the broader context of Arts and Humanities.
Taking place on 5th March 2025 in a hybrid format, this workshop offered a dynamic platform for students and researchers to engage with industry experts and gain insights into the evolving creative landscape. The event took place at the University of Glasgow (St Andrews Building Room 432). Alternatively, participants could join online via Zoom.
This event was funded by the College of Arts Collaborative Research Awards and the Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation Studies at the University of Glasgow. We extend our sincere thanks for their generous support in making this event possible.
Programme Details (UK time):
13.00-13.15 Welcome and registration
13.15-13.20 Introduction from host Yujia Flavia Jin (University of Glasgow).
13.20-13.30 Opening remarks by Professor Louise Harris (Dean of Postgraduate Research, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Glasgow).
13.30-14.30 Session One ‘Gaming Industry in Scotland'
Dr Timothy Peacock (University of Glasgow), Introduction to UofGGamesLab and gaming research at Glasgow.
Brian Baglow (Founder of Scottish Games Network), Introduction to the gaming industry in Scotland.
Audience Q&A (10 mins)
14.40 – 16.00 Session Two ‘Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Baghdad Codex’
Dr Glaire Anderson (University of Edinburgh), Dr Raphaël Weyland (Ubisoft), Introduction to the Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Baghdad Codex Feature
Audience Q&A
Tea/Coffee Break 16.00-16.30 (Venue in Glasgow University Union, coffee and snacks provided)
16.30-17.00 Session Three ‘Public History and Video Games’
Professor Jerome de Groot (University of Manchester), Public History and Video Games
Audience Q&A (10 mins)
17.00 – 17. 50 Final Roundtable ‘Building Bridges: Academia, the Game Industry, and Career Path Insights’, including Professor Jerome de Groot, Dr Glaire Anderson, Dr Raphaël Weyland, Brian Baglow, Yujia Flavia Jin
17.50 – 18.00 Concluding remarks
Pub gathering (at participants’ own expense), DRAM
'On Practice' was a series of talks and workshops hosted by Centre that explored the relationship between practice and research.
WHEN: Wednesday 26 February, 3–4pm
WHERE: Hetherington Building, Room 133
WHAT:
On Practice – A New Series of Talks and Workshops
Curated by Dr Alessia Zinnari
Research Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation
The goal of this new series of events was to offer a space for academics, artists, and interdisciplinary practitioners to reflect on the role that practice has in shaping research and, vice versa, to appreciate how artistic production can generate knowledge. The mutual exchange—and sometimes tension—between art practice and more ‘traditional’ forms of research was seen as something that could be productively explored to help both academics and practitioners inform and deepen their respective practices.
This series therefore explored creative methodologies, practice-based research, artistic practice, as well as experimental translation and pedagogy, community engagement, and other related areas. It was intended to serve as a meeting point for both academics and practitioners to forge new connections and collaborations.
Our Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation was the ideal host for this series, as comparative studies are inherently linked to the singularities of our experiential backgrounds, while practice could be deemed as ‘comparative’ in nature.
Professor Minty Donald
Drifting and Guddling: Creative Practice as/and Research
In this presentation and discussion, Professor Minty Donald shared and reflected on her work as a practice-based researcher and artist working both within and beyond academic contexts. Minty’s practice-research explores interrelationships between humans and the other-than-human environments that they shape, build, and inhabit—environments that also mould and permeate them.
Her practice takes multiple forms, determined by the context in which she is working, but frequently includes performance, sculpture, participatory events, and writing. In her practice, she treats other-than-human matter as a collaborator, acknowledging its liveliness and agency, while also recognising the limits and inequalities of human/other-than-human collaboration. Minty regularly works with her (human) collaborator, Nick Millar.