Liisa Tiittula

Liisa Maria Tiittula
Born October 28, 1950, Tampere

PhD 1990 (Linguistics) Academy of Sciences, Berlin
Master of Arts 1984, Licentiate 1985 (General Linguistics), University of Helsinki
Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) 1975, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration

Professor of German Language 2010–, University of Helsinki
Professor of German Language (teaching area: the theory and practice of translation) 1995–2010, University of Tampere
German language assistant, lecturer and acting associate professor; assistant professor in Applied Linguistics and business communications, 1975–95, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration
Research fellow 1990–91, senior research fellow 1998–99 and 2005–06, Academy of Finland
Research fellow 2003–04, University of Tampere Centre for Advanced Studies
Visiting professor (Translation Studies) 2011–12, Karl Franzens University, Graz

Docent in Applied Linguistics 1992–, Helsinki School of Economics
Docent in German language and culture (area of expertise: intercultural communication) 1994–, University of Tampere

Research themes:
Literary translation, speech-to-text interpreting, subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, institutional interaction, multimodality, Finnish-German business communication

Publications, research projects and other academic activity

Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters 2009–

Photo: Mika Federley
Written by Liisa Tiittula
Translated by Matthew Billington

A Positive and Open Atmosphere for Translation Studies

Translation and interpreting will always be important in a global world, even though their areas and methods are changing. When I came to the University of Helsinki in 2010, there was an atmosphere that was both positive and open to translation studies, which made the development of translation studies an inspiring pursuit. The wide variety of languages at the University of Helsinki, the possibility to study Finnish not only as a translator’s native language but also as a second or foreign language, and the strength of language and translation technology make for an excellent environment to profile translator training. My dream is that we can continue to improve on our areas of expertise while holding on to young and gifted researchers.

My own language subject is German. I hope that the central role of the German language in Europe is taken into account when austerity measures threaten various fields.

By Written by Liisa Tiittula, translated by Tomi Setälä, revised by Matthew Billington