Denise Kripper

ECLA* has offered a great intellectual community: from the deans and professors, to the staff and students, we all formed a tight-knit community where students' interests were fostered and their critical viewpoints challenged. While at ECLA, the interdisciplinary curriculum allowed me to explore a wide array of classes, from Film Studies and World Literature, to Philosophy and Art History.

In 2010, I was invited back to ECLA to help coordinate that year's Annual Conference, after a proposal I had put forward on the topic of translation. It was a fascinating week-long symposium with important international lecturers discussing the role of the translator and the possibility of intercultural awareness through translation.

The following year, I started my PhD in Literature and Cultural Studies at Georgetown University, from which I graduated in 2016. My dissertation, entitled The Translator's Fictions: the Translator as Protagonist in Contemporary Spanish and Latin American Literature, explored the recent upsurge in the representation of translation and the task of the translator in literature, and was very much inspired by my work in Berlin. I am currently Associate Professor of Latin American Literature and Translation in the Modern Languages & Literatures Department at Lake Forest College near Chicago.

*ECLA was the historical name of Bard College Berlin until November 2013

Looking back, what did you most enjoy about your time at Bard College Berlin/what had the biggest impact on you while studying at Bard College Berlin?
I enjoyed expanding my intellectual horizons and engaging with new (for me) areas of study. I made long-lasting friendships and learned a lot about myself. My time at the college cemented my desire to pursue graduate studies and continue on with a PhD.

How would you describe, in a nutshell, the experience of studying at BCB?
Studying in Berlin was a formative experience. It was exciting and fun, and challenging in the best possible way.

Write briefly about one of your courses that left a lasting impression on you.
Prof. Matthias Hurst's film courses were very insightful in opening new interpretations of what a "text" could be. Through his analysis of film scenes, I learned how to do good close readings, which would later become invaluable in my literary work, both as a scholar and as a translator.

How has BCB influenced the path you've taken since completing the program?
It was truly decisive in everything that I did after in ways I'm still discovering! It's brilliant that after so many years I'm still learning about the impact of that experience both in my personal and professional life.

Where are you now and what are you doing?
I am currently Associate Professor at Lake Forest College in the US, where I teach Latin American literature and translation studies. I am also the translation editor at Latin American Literature Today. I've recently published a book called Narratives of Mistranslation: Fictional Translators in Latin American Literature.

Any advice you would give to students considering BCB?
Don't be afraid of going outside your comfort zone & get to know your professors