|
Home | History | Translation | Bible Resources | Partnerships | Team |
|
The Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship was named after Dr. Eugene A. Nida (1914-2011), who was the first Director of Translations of the American Bible Society (ABS). As a translation consultant, he visited numerous translation projects all over the world. As a linguist, he was one of the founders of the modern discipline of translation studies and a well-known and well-respected scholar, who wrote more than 30 authoritative books about Bible translation and related subjects. Nida also played a pivotal role in the foundation of the United Bible Societies (UBS) in 1946.
Around 2001 ABS decided to change the name of their Bible Translation department to Nida Institute to honor Nida's legacy. Over the years, the position and mandate of the Nida Institute within ABS has changed, and the Nida Institute gradually matured and developed into an innovative thinktank serving the global cause of Bible Translation.
From the early beginning, the Nida Institute has been working hard to establish partnerships with academic institutions across the world, such as the University of Leuven in Belgium (2001-2006), the Fondazione Unicampus San Pellegrino in Italy (with Prof. Stefano Arduini) (FUSP, 2001), the Pontificia Università Urbaniana (2014), and the Jerusalem Center for Bible Translation (2020), which is closely connected to the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University.
On June 22-23, 2001, the Nida Institute held a conference in New York City on Similarity and Difference in Translation, organized by Robert Hodgson and Stefano Arduini.
Another important conference took place on April 14-16, 2004. Its theme was Translating with Computer-Assisted Technology, and it was organized by Stefano Arduini, Gaetano Castorina, and Robert Hodgson. It was held at the University of Rome "La Sapienza".
On June 3-5, 2010, a third conference takes place, entitled Translation and Cognition, organized by Stefano Arduini and Steve Berneking, and held at the University of Murcia, Spain.
Between 2011 and 2018, the Nida Institute and its partners organized annual symposia on Translation Studies, featuring translation scholars from all over the world. For more details, click here.
The Nida Institute has played an important role in the area of training. This started right at the beginning in 2001, when we started organizing yearly courses in Bible translation as part of the CETRA Summer School of Translation Studies. From 2008, these courses continued under a different name: the Nida School for Translation Studies (NSTS). Scholars representing several disciplines in translation (UN, EU, Courts, radio, film, Internet, machine, interdisciplinary, etc.) were invited to present their work and engage in discussions.
In 2012 NIDA launched an innovative discussion platform called Modular Aggregation of Principles of Bible Translation (MAP). This is a place where students and practitioners of Bible translation can publish articles and discuss current issues in the field of BT.
In 2013, in close collaboration with the United Bible Societies, the Nida Institute started a training program specifically for Bible translation consultants in training, called the Nida School for Bible Translation (NBST).
In 2015, the Nida Institute launched its own version of the Canvas Instructure platform. With the help of our expert Dr. Michael Hemenway, we have been able to coach trainers from multiple BT agencies in building high quality hybrid training events using cutting-edge pedagogical principles, hosted on our platform.
In 2016, the Nida School for Scripture Engagement was launched. Training events were held in different countries, such as India, Chile, Cuba, and Guatemala, to help practitioners in BT understand that, contrary to the traditional view, Scripture Engagement is not something that comes after Bible translation, but is the frame within which Bible translation takes place.
In 2020, the Nida Institute started its collaboration with the Jerusalem Center for Bible Translators, affiliated with the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University.
In 2022, the Nida Institute helped launch a Master's Degree program in Bible Translation, in collaboration with UBS and our partners at Fondazione Unicampus San Pellegrino (FUSP) in Italy.
The following publications were initiated by the Nida Institute: