Common intentions, different implementation: ba curricula in translation studies in Castelló de la Plana and in Graz

Abstract

One of the aims of the Bologna Process is to increase mobility. By definition Translation and Interpreting Studies have an international orientation. For this reason at some universities compulsory mobility plans exist for Translation students, but instead it seems mobility has actually decreased, a fact that could be related to differences in the length of study cycles and curricular design. This paper aims to compare two curricula of Translation Studies, at an Austrian and a Spanish university, focusing o n aspects that could affect student mobility. The wider context, related to study cycles and social factors, is therefore presented first. Then the relevant aspects of the curricula of Translation Studies in Graz and in Castelló de la Plana are described a nd compared. The differences can be situated in general academic organisation, in some curricular aspects and, above all, in a different structure of the study cycles. Paradoxically, the forthcoming study reforms may completely invert the present situation.