Module MELA43715: INTERCULTURAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Department: Modern Language and Cultures

MELA43715: INTERCULTURAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To establish the fundamental principles and techniques of project management in the workflow of projects to be delivered in multilingual and multicultural environments.
• The module introduces the complexities of managing projects in a business context with an overview of specific issues of project management of multilingual projects (be them translation projects, intercultural mediations, or even international artistic endeavours such as exhibitions, conferences, etc).
• The module introduces techniques to look at project objectives and timescale of execution and encompasses both development of a work practice for job-in/job-out approaches to projects and a critical assessment of the project manager's role.
• The module provides a critical examination of the issues and current techniques for successful project planning, quality control, and closure.

Content

• The module provides grounding in project managing time, resources, team-work.
• The module allows students to focus on the challenges and rewards of working in multicultural and multilingual environments.
• The module focuses on techniques to establish effective communication and coordination in a project with multiple in-house or free-lance collaborators (linguists, translators, terminologist, culture experts, etc).
• The module provides a grounding in project managing techniques and the role of project managers in detailing specifications, rules, and procedures in complex projects.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will develop an in-depth knowledge of project managing in a business perspective;
• Students will develop a critical appreciation of the requirements for organizing and coordinating projects effectively within the business environment.
• Students will gain an understanding of the issues of localizing according to the specific needs of the target audience(s) of intercultural projects.

• Ability to locate and coordinate use of resources to contribute to successful and profitable completion of projects;
• Ability to manage of personal time and managing the timing of a team;
• Ability to assess the professional skills to be developed by a project manager working in the translation industry;
• Ability to evaluate appropriate the complexity of business practices in project management.

• Oral and written communication: from daily routine to harmonization and implementation of changes in a team;
• Planning and resourcing;
• Organising and time management;
• Problem solving and analysis: revision, validation, and quality control;
• Using initiative: establishing work patterns and collaborative models;
• Adopting appropriate software and supports (e.g. Gantt charts, planning schemes, etc).

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching methods will include lectures and tutorials run by business professionals.
• Lectures will require participation and the seminars entail students' presentation based on problem-solving activities and analysis of real-world scenarios, carried out as a group.
• The module is taught in Michaelmas Term. Lectures will introduce key issues in project management in general terms. The module seminars will engage with discussion and analysis of real scenarios (discussing work organization, workflow, planning techniques, devising schedules).
• Seminars will be student-centred and based on problem-solving: the students will be given time to prepare to discuss a particular case requiring project managment and they will present and discuss the results of their work on the case. The work will be based on team-work and the results will be presented by means of a professional presentation with each group member contributing to the presentation and discussion of the case.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Case study project with students' presentation. Students work in small groups on a case study and then discuss their results in a formal business style presentation.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University