4/14 @ 2:30 PM | AI and Human Expertise in Translator Training

The talk is part of A Feeling of Itself, a three-part program developed by Project for Empty Space (PES), Lives in Translation (LiT), and the Design Consortium at Rutgers University–Newark, led by designers Chantal Fischzang and Gisela Ochoa, unfolding across multiple Newark sites from March through June 2026. The event will take place at 800 Broad St, Newark, NJ 07102, within the exhibition space.

Sarita Monjane Henriksen examines the opportunities and challenges AI brings to translator training in multilingual, resource-limited contexts, focusing on Universidade Pedagógica de Maputo in Mozambique. Drawing on sixteen years of experience in Portuguese, English, and French, she explores how AI and computer-assisted tools are integrated into translator education to serve Mozambique’s diverse communities.

The talk also critiques the historical focus on European languages at the expense of indigenous African languages. While AI can expand access and efficiency, it risks reinforcing exclusion. Henriksen emphasizes that human expertise, ethical responsibility, and community-centered approaches—modeled on Rutgers University’s Lives in Translation initiative—are essential for inclusive, equitable language services.

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Sarita Monjane Henriksen is an Associate Professor in Language Education at the Pedagogical University of Maputo (UP–Maputo), where she teaches English Language and Sociolinguistics, Education Policy, Language and Cultural Diversity, Translation Studies, and Introduction to Consecutive Interpreting. She completed a postdoctoral program in Human Rights, Social Rights and Diffuse Rights at CEB, Universidad de Salamanca (Spain), specializing in Linguistic Human Rights in Education. She holds a PhD in Language Policy and EducationPlanning in multilingual contexts (Roskilde University, Denmark), an MA in Linguistics in Education (University of Surrey, St. Mary’s University College, UK), and a degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Universidade Pedagógica, Mozambique). Henriksen has held multiple academic leadership and international coordination roles, including Director of Cooperation and International Relations at UP–Maputo and ERASMUS Institutional Coordinator, as well as Director of Cooperation and a member of the Doctoral School on Language Studies, where she facilitates PhD seminars on Language Planning and Policy, Languages in Contact, and Bilingual Education. She has served as Dean of the Faculty of Language Sciences, Communication and Arts (UP–Maputo) and as an institutional project coordinator (TEPATE and TIPOTE). Her international appointments include DAAD Visiting Professor at Justus Liebig University of Giessen (Germany) and guest professorships at ISCTE-IUL Lisbon, the Universidade Federal da Paraíba (Brazil), and the University of Southern Denmark.

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