Dr Callum Walker

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds in September 2020, having previously taught computer-assisted translation technology, project management, and specialised translation (French>English and Russian>English) in various forms at Durham University (2012–2020), University College London (2018–2019), and Goldsmiths College University of London (2020).

I obtained my PhD in Translation Studies from University College London. Until 2024, I worked initially full-time, and later part-time (concurrently with my academic work) as a freelance translator (beginning in 2009), specialising in legal, business and financial translations from French and Russian into English, as well as managing translations in other language pairs and domains through a wide network of linguists.

I am a Chartered Linguist and Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL, UK) as well as a qualified Member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI, UK), and have also carried out consultancy work for the CIOL in connection with the PG Diploma in Translation.

Responsibilities

• Director of Studies, Centre for Translation, Interpreting and Localisation Studies (2022-2026)
• Programme Lead of the MA Applied Translation Studies (2020-2023)
• Subject Research Lead, Centre for Translation, Interpreting and Localisation Studies (2021-2022)

Research interests

I have two main areas of research in translation studies. My primary research interest lies in the translation industry and translation profession, and in particular micro-, labour, and information economics. I am also interested in translation project constraints (time, cost, quality, scope, benefits, risk), project management frameworks (PMBOK and Prince2), and CAT tool and technology-driven workflows in project management. My Routledge textbook on this topic, entitled Translation Project Management, was published at the end of 2022 and has since been translated into Arabic.

I am currently working on projects relating to labour economics (job quality frameworks and meaningful work), information asymmetry (in particular on the part of clients and project managers), the challenges faced by freelance translators (with a focus on rates of pay and working conditions), and the technologisation of the translation industry (drawing on emerging trends relating to the platform economy, Uberisation, and growing automation). Most of this work is situated within conceptual frameworks from the sociology of professions and economics. My work in this area has included a project on the sustainability of the freelance translation profession in the United Kingdom, funded by a BA/Leverhulme Small Grant, in collaboration with Dr Joseph Lambert (Cardiff University) and Dr JC Penet (Newcastle University). Outcomes from this project have recently been developed into a broader research agenda that I am leading with the same team and new specialists, entitled The Translation Industry in Transition.

Together with Dr Joseph Lambert (Cardiff University), I edited The Routledge Handbook of the Translation Industry, bringing together authors from across a wide range of academic backgrounds and professional backgrounds. The volume was published in 2025 and was hailed as a “groundbreaking” and “towering” roadmap of the field by endorsers.

My secondary research interest is in the field of cognitive translation studies, and more specifically the reception of stylistic variation in translation. My doctoral and subsequent research and publications have centred around exploring the phenomenological experience of reading source texts and translations in a comparative light, notably using eye tracking to gain an insight into the cognitive dimensions of the reading experience. At the moment, I am looking to build on my methodological proof of concept by incorporating additional biometric sensors to further explore the cognitive and emotional dimensions of reading different written styles in translation. In this context, I have a keen interest in research methods, mixed-methods designs (qualitative and quantitative methods), experimental and empirical methods, and statistical analyses. In light of the case studies employed in my research, I also have a strong interest in language varieties (e.g. dialects, sociolects), especially in a literary context.

In this research area of cognitive translation studies, I co-edited the volume Eye Tracking and Multidisciplinary Studies on Translation (co-edited with Federico M. Federici, University College London), which was published in 2018 with John Benjamins. My monograph An Eye-Tracking Study of Equivalent Effect in Translation: The Reader Experience of Literary Style, which builds on my doctoral research, was published by Palgrave in late 2020.

• Chasing Status: The Sustainability of the Freelance Translation Profession in the United Kingdom

Qualifications

• PhD in Translation Studies (University College London)
• BA (Hons) in French and Russian (University of Sheffield)

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Chartered Institute of Linguists (CL and MCIL)
• Institute of Translation and Interpreting (MITI)

Student education

My teaching is centred primarily on the MA in Applied Translation Studies and MA Audiovisual Translation and Localisation, with a particular focus on computer-assisted translation technology, localisation, and project management. I lecture on translation theory, with sessions on translation technology, the translation industry, and ethics and am also involved in the supervision and assessment of translation projects (FR-EN, RU-EN) and dissertations within my areas of expertise across CTILS.

Research groups and institutes

• Translation
• Language processing
• Russian
• Centre for World Literatures

Current postgraduate researchers

• Omar Alkhowaiter
• Adaeze Ngozi Ohuoba
• Lu Yuan
• Latifah Aldulaimi
• Meng Du
• Jemma Louise Stafford
• Fardous Bahbouh