About Lives in Translation

The Lives in Translation Project was created in 2016 by a group of Rutgers University-Newark(RU-N) faculty from Arts and Sciences and the Law School with a Seed Grant from the Chancellor’s Office. As part of this program, Project Manager Anna Dichter and Faculty Supervisor Jennifer Austin developed the Language Access Program (LAP). LAP provides interpreting and translation services to limited-English proficient clients throughout the region by recruiting and training Rutgers undergraduate students to interpret and translate for Rutgers Law School Clinics and local nonprofits located in New Jersey and New York.  

Program Components

​​LAP offers undergraduate internships in translation/interpretation serving the Legal Clinics at the Rutgers School of Law-Newark and other sites in the community. Interns participate in weekly training and receive academic credit for their work throughout the semester.

Additionally, LAP created a database of volunteers who are willing to serve as translators/interpreters in the community (so far, there are over 450 students who speak 48 different languages).

As part of the Lives in Translation initiative,  RU-N is starting a new minor in Translation/ Interpretation and a certificate program in Translation/ Interpretation.

Visualization of our language database by the students in Professor Chantal  Fischzang's Design Consortium Seminar: Windell Brown, Matias Bruno, Lisa Gaskins, Shaneen Johnson, Angel Juarez, Lacy Antoinette, Kelly Llumiquinga, Gisela Ochoa, Jose Paredes, Evelyne Rendon, Andrea Sanchez & Natalia Ziarno 

For more information, please contact:
Program Manager: Anna Dichter
Email: Ald201@rutgers.edu
Assistant Program Manager: Raydel Rijo
Email: rr913@rutgers.edu
or Faculty Supervisor: Jennifer Austin
Email: jbaustin@newark.rutgers.edu

The Lives in Translation Project is funded by an RU-N Chancellor's Seed Grant to
  Jennifer Austin, Spanish and Portuguese Studies, PI
  John Keene, English/African American and African Studies, PI
  Fran Bartkowski, English, co-PI
  Anjum Gupta, Rutgers School of Law-Newark, co-PI
  Tim Raphael, Arts, Culture, and Media, co-PI
   Collaborator: Randi Mandlebaum, Rutgers School of Law-Newark
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