The digital translation classroom: Another day at the computer for the burgeoning translator

This contribution analyzes the unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on university teaching and learning environments, drawing on the author’s direct experience of teaching translation in the USA and in Germany. The research letter adopts a broad perspective considering social and personal aspects such as the economic impacts of the crisis on university budgets resulting from reduced enrolments in university courses and the potential benefits of reduced class sizes alongside the accelerated arrival of the digital humanities as a prerequisite for the long-term survival of translation departments. The central section, entitled ‘Scientific Translation with Corona as Reference Point’ focuses on a recently taught translation course in which the author allowed a space of reflection on the pandemic both to help us cope with the threats and opportunities it might offer. The international stakes of the pandemic gave us an opportunity to reflect on the cultural and linguistic situatedness of scientific translation. © 2021 International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies. All rights reserved.