Dr. María Sierra Córdoba Serrano

María Sierra Córdoba Serrano is an Associate Professor at McGill University and the inaugural Graduate Program Director of the new Master of Science (Applied) in Multilingual Digital Communication. Slated to start accepting students in fall 2025, this interdisciplinary program will bring fundamental changes to traditional translation curricula in Canada in order to equip language, communication and technology professionals with the critical skills needed to advance their careers in this quickly evolving field. She is also a member of the Canadian General Standards Board Committee on Translation Services tasked with reviewing the national translation standard (CAN/CGSB-131.10-2017).

At McGill, she has served in several leadership positions, including Director of Translation Studies and Assistant Dean of Curriculum and Program Development, providing strategic oversight on new curriculum development initiatives. Prior to joining McGill in 2017, and after studying and freelancing in Spain, Belgium and the U.K., and completing a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Translation Studies at the University of Ottawa, she landed a full-time academic position at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (California) in 2009, where she served as an Associate Professor for eight years, and Translation Chair for two years.

As a scholar-practitioner, she is interested in multilingualism management and is currently leading a SSHRC-funded project on the role of translation and language technologies in crisis communication in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is the author of a book on the sociology of translation (Le Québec traduit en Espagne : analyse sociologique de l’exportation d’une culture périphérique) and the co-author of a special issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language. She has also published numerous book chapters and articles in international peer-reviewed journals. She has translated two award-winning novels by Quebec author Nicolas Dicker into Spanish. Notable translation clients over the years have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Shoah Memorial in Paris, The Understanding Group and the National Steinbeck Center.

Portrait of a woman with wavy brown hair, red glasses, wearing a black blazer, white top, and a red and green beaded necklace, smiling against a plain light gray background.