Translation in a healthcare context (no)

Director Biography

Sindre Worren is an educational media producer at HF:Studio, University of Oslo. 

Peter Andreas Kristoffersen is an educational media producer at HF:Studio, University of Oslo. 

Pedagogical value

Translation in a Healthcare Context is a short pedagogical film by HF:Studio and Jan Buts (University of Oslo) that places the viewer inside the story of a patient navigating an unfamiliar medical environment. Through simple but unsettling dilemmas—language barriers, unclear procedures, cultural misalignments—the film highlights how “translation” operates not only as linguistic transfer, but as the broader movement of meaning across people, institutions, and technologies. The film is used within an interdisciplinary course on humanities and medicine, co-organized by Circle U universities, which explores how the arts and sciences can converge to address urgent global challenges. Its pedagogical framework builds on experiential learning and reflective practice: students are asked to imagine themselves as the protagonist, pause at specific points, and write or discuss possible actions. These reflections then feed into group work such as mapping translation challenges, role-play, or designing small communication interventions. As part of a wider lecture series on the KOS1500 – Bridging Humanities and Medicine for Sustainable Societal Impact – An Introduction to Translational Medical Humanities course, the film introduces students to medical humanities as a critical lens for understanding health, empathy, and social change. By engaging students in active perspective-taking and reflection, the film cultivates both analytical skills and empathy. Its pedagogical potential lies in prompting learners to recognize translation as a situated, embodied process that shapes every interaction in healthcare—and, by extension, in society at large.