Seeking funding for a plan to translate new work from the Global South – Transformational HPS
The Transformational HPS network is committed to organising the translation of original work in HPS from scholars in the Global South who do not normally or regularly publish in English. These translated works will also form the basis of a seminar series.
There are a number of steps in the scheme we are proposing, which are outlined below. At this second stage we are looking for departments and organisations who are able to pledge funds that will pay for the translation of 6 new journal-length papers into English. We have written a letter that can be forwarded to Heads of Department, Chairs of research funding committees, and scholarly societies, which can be found below. If you are interested in seeing this initiative proceed, please copy the letter and send it to whoever you think might be in a position to help. Do not worry about replicating the efforts of others - a demonstration of widespread interest is itself important for success.
Yours,
Dominic Berry, David Ludwig, Lindsey Breitwieser, Harun Küçük and Diego Ballestero
There are a number of steps in the scheme we are proposing, which are outlined below. At this second stage we are looking for departments and organisations who are able to pledge funds that will pay for the translation of 6 new journal-length papers into English. We have written a letter that can be forwarded to Heads of Department, Chairs of research funding committees, and scholarly societies, which can be found below. If you are interested in seeing this initiative proceed, please copy the letter and send it to whoever you think might be in a position to help. Do not worry about replicating the efforts of others - a demonstration of widespread interest is itself important for success.
Yours,
Dominic Berry, David Ludwig, Lindsey Breitwieser, Harun Küçük and Diego Ballestero
Letter for copying and disseminating
To whom it may concern,
This message is written on behalf of the Transformational HPS network, an international network supporting researchers who are queering HPS, decolonising HPS, and centring disability in HPS. You can learn more about the network here: https://www.transformationalhps.org/
We have recently launched an initiative, to arrange for the translation of new HPS research from scholars in the Global South who do not normally or regularly publish in English. We have already succeeded in gathering volunteers to read submitted abstracts, collectively covering 6 languages that are spoken widely in the Global South. The languages and panels are detailed below.
We have now reached the stage where we need to gather funding, and are appealing to universities, departments, and scholarly societies to partner with the scheme. Pledging a minimum donation of £400 earns any organisation the chance to be listed as a partner to this initiative in all publications on the Transformational HPS website relating to it. We offer this opportunity as a concrete action that organisations in the global north can take towards redistributing research resources in a more equitable manner, one that increases the representation of otherwise marginalised scholars, and increases opportunities for future global networks of research and collaboration.
Pledged funds will only be requested provided we meet our overall goal of £10,000, which we anticipate will be sufficient to pay for the translation of 6 academic papers each less than 10,000 words. Further details as to the scheme can be found here: https://www.transformationalhps.org/translations---seeking-hps-scholars-with-language-skills.html
To register your pledge, please write to Dr Dominic Berry on d.berry@bham.ac.uk
The deadline is March 31st 2022. We hope this deadline will give any organisation sufficient time to arrange any necessary meetings to evaluate this proposal.
Yours,
Dominic Berry, David Ludwig, Lindsey Breitwieser, Harun Küçük and Diego Ballestero
FRENCH
Jochen F Mayer (Independent Historian)
Brigitte Van Tiggelen (Science History Institute)
Andrew M.A. Morris (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Emily Hayes (Oxford Brookes University)
Lewis Pyenson (Western Michigan University)
Michael Bycroft (University of Warwick)
William Agay-Beaujon (University Montpellier III)
SPANISH
Diego Ballestero (Bonn Universität)
David Ludwig (Wageningen University)
Santiago Guzmán Gámez (University College London)
Clara Bueno Suero (University of Pittsburgh)
Anaid Linares (UNAM)
Inmaculada de Melo-Martín (Weill Cornell Medicine-Cornell University)
Ruben Flores (University College Dublin)
ARABIC
Harun Küçük (University of Pennsylvania)
Du Fei (Cornell University)
Ayman Yasin Atat (TU Braunschweig)
Somayyeh Amiri (Independent researcher)
Basel Myhub (Universität Bielefeld)
RUSSIAN
Polina Merkulova (University of Leeds)
Clare Griffin (Nazarbayev University)
Alexander Iosad (Independent scholar)
PORTUGUESE/BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
Amanda Domingues (Cornell University)
Federica Russo (University of Amsterdam)
Fredy Mora-Gámez (University of Vienna)
Archie Davies (University of Sheffield)
Luana Poliseli (Konrad Lorenz Insitute)
Renata Arruda (Federal University of Goiás)
MANDARIN
Siyu Yao (Indiana University Bloomington)
Leon Rocha (Independent researcher)
Wanheng Hu (Cornell University)
This message is written on behalf of the Transformational HPS network, an international network supporting researchers who are queering HPS, decolonising HPS, and centring disability in HPS. You can learn more about the network here: https://www.transformationalhps.org/
We have recently launched an initiative, to arrange for the translation of new HPS research from scholars in the Global South who do not normally or regularly publish in English. We have already succeeded in gathering volunteers to read submitted abstracts, collectively covering 6 languages that are spoken widely in the Global South. The languages and panels are detailed below.
We have now reached the stage where we need to gather funding, and are appealing to universities, departments, and scholarly societies to partner with the scheme. Pledging a minimum donation of £400 earns any organisation the chance to be listed as a partner to this initiative in all publications on the Transformational HPS website relating to it. We offer this opportunity as a concrete action that organisations in the global north can take towards redistributing research resources in a more equitable manner, one that increases the representation of otherwise marginalised scholars, and increases opportunities for future global networks of research and collaboration.
Pledged funds will only be requested provided we meet our overall goal of £10,000, which we anticipate will be sufficient to pay for the translation of 6 academic papers each less than 10,000 words. Further details as to the scheme can be found here: https://www.transformationalhps.org/translations---seeking-hps-scholars-with-language-skills.html
To register your pledge, please write to Dr Dominic Berry on d.berry@bham.ac.uk
The deadline is March 31st 2022. We hope this deadline will give any organisation sufficient time to arrange any necessary meetings to evaluate this proposal.
Yours,
Dominic Berry, David Ludwig, Lindsey Breitwieser, Harun Küçük and Diego Ballestero
FRENCH
Jochen F Mayer (Independent Historian)
Brigitte Van Tiggelen (Science History Institute)
Andrew M.A. Morris (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Emily Hayes (Oxford Brookes University)
Lewis Pyenson (Western Michigan University)
Michael Bycroft (University of Warwick)
William Agay-Beaujon (University Montpellier III)
SPANISH
Diego Ballestero (Bonn Universität)
David Ludwig (Wageningen University)
Santiago Guzmán Gámez (University College London)
Clara Bueno Suero (University of Pittsburgh)
Anaid Linares (UNAM)
Inmaculada de Melo-Martín (Weill Cornell Medicine-Cornell University)
Ruben Flores (University College Dublin)
ARABIC
Harun Küçük (University of Pennsylvania)
Du Fei (Cornell University)
Ayman Yasin Atat (TU Braunschweig)
Somayyeh Amiri (Independent researcher)
Basel Myhub (Universität Bielefeld)
RUSSIAN
Polina Merkulova (University of Leeds)
Clare Griffin (Nazarbayev University)
Alexander Iosad (Independent scholar)
PORTUGUESE/BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
Amanda Domingues (Cornell University)
Federica Russo (University of Amsterdam)
Fredy Mora-Gámez (University of Vienna)
Archie Davies (University of Sheffield)
Luana Poliseli (Konrad Lorenz Insitute)
Renata Arruda (Federal University of Goiás)
MANDARIN
Siyu Yao (Indiana University Bloomington)
Leon Rocha (Independent researcher)
Wanheng Hu (Cornell University)
The plan (progression through each stage 1-7 is dependent on completion of the previous one)
1 – Find HPS scholars prepared to participate in abstract selection panels
While we did receive a number of further offers from volunteers with expertise in additional languages, these never reached a number that would make such panels viable. We are also restricted by the amount of funding we are likely to gather, and so at this stage are proceeding with only the 6 panels listed above.
2- Secure funding
3- Publish a call for abstracts and also potential translators.
4- Notify the successful authors, letting them know they have 8 months in which to write and return their article to be handed to the translators.
5- Receive the completed articles and pass them to their translators, with a sensible deadline.
6- Organise the seminars. It is intended that the seminar will be given in the language preferred by the speaker, on the topic of their article. The translation will be circulated in English ahead of time to those who register.
7- The translated versions of these articles will belong to the authors, to do with as they wish. We will offer help and support if a path to collective publication becomes available, but otherwise the authors can proceed however they prefer.
1 – Find HPS scholars prepared to participate in abstract selection panels
- Announce that we are looking for provisional chairs and selection committee members for people with relevant language skills.
While we did receive a number of further offers from volunteers with expertise in additional languages, these never reached a number that would make such panels viable. We are also restricted by the amount of funding we are likely to gather, and so at this stage are proceeding with only the 6 panels listed above.
2- Secure funding
- Provided that we get enough panels together around different languages (aiming for 5-6 panels minimum), we then advertise that we are looking for departments and societies to partner and fund the initiative. A minimum amount of funding will be asked for from potential supporters.
3- Publish a call for abstracts and also potential translators.
- Circulate a Call for HPS abstracts in the 5-6 languages we have specified, with preference for scholars based in the Global South, asking that they be sent to the chairs of the relevant panels. People will be limited to submitting only one abstract to the entire exercise (i.e. we will not allow people to submit in multiple panels).
- In the same announcement we will say we are also looking for people who we can pay to translate these languages into English, either professional translators or those with sufficient experience and expertise.
4- Notify the successful authors, letting them know they have 8 months in which to write and return their article to be handed to the translators.
5- Receive the completed articles and pass them to their translators, with a sensible deadline.
6- Organise the seminars. It is intended that the seminar will be given in the language preferred by the speaker, on the topic of their article. The translation will be circulated in English ahead of time to those who register.
7- The translated versions of these articles will belong to the authors, to do with as they wish. We will offer help and support if a path to collective publication becomes available, but otherwise the authors can proceed however they prefer.