2025 Featured Speakers
Prof. dr. Matthijs J. de Jong (1977, The Netherlands) holds the Chair by Special Appointment of Bible Translation in Contemporary Context at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is head of translation at the Bible Society for the Netherlands and Flanders.
De Jong studied in Leiden and Oxford and obtained his PhD at Leiden University. As a Bible translator he contributed extensively to the Dutch Bible in Plain Language (2014) and the revision of the Dutch Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling, resulting in the NBV21 (2021).
De Jong combines a broad research profile in Biblical studies with the specialism of Bible translation methodology. His primary research interest lies in contextualizing Bible translation, both as a historical phenomenon and as a contemporary activity.
Dr. Matthijs de Jong
Kirk grew up in Papua New Guinea (PNG) amongst the Kewa people as a missionary kid (MK). As an adult, he joined Wycliffe US as a media-communications specialist and served with SIL International and the local Bible Translation Association. While in PNG, Kirk met and married Christine from NSW who was teaching at SIL’s primary school. Later Kirk served with Wycliffe Australia in media-communications, governance and executive leadership roles. From 2008-2020, Kirk was the Executive Director of the Wycliffe Global Alliance—comprised of over 100 organizations.
Kirk is now involved in research, training and teaching where he draws upon his years of mission executive roles and leading organizational change in a global mission agency. Kirk uses an interdisciplinary approach through the fields of missiology, intercultural studies, missional leadership and globalization. Kirk and Christine attend Warrandyte Community Church. The Franklins have three adult married children and three grandsons.
Dr. Kirk Franklin
I study intersections between translation, religion, history, and postcolonial studies. I have a keen interest in the way ideas, texts or objects considered sacred are translated across language cultures; and an equally keen interest in translation in archives. I teach translation theory and methods with a particular focus on literary translation and the sacred in translation. I retain a strong research interest in South Asian literary and translation cultures and contribute to teaching team-taught courses offered by the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh.
I have trained PhD students at the Translation Research Summer School and NIDA School of Translation Studies over several summers and taught on Erasmus Exchange programmes in Europe and India. I have also developed and organised early career researcher training for scholars based in India across the humanities disciplines. This was funded by the British Academy (please see under projects for further details). I have mentored several Charles Wallace Fellows (postdoctoral research fellows based in Indian HEIs) at Edinburgh.
Before joining Edinburgh, I taught Literary Studies at the Open University's London Region and at the University of Delhi at St. Stephen College (1996-1997) and Lady Shri Ram College (1997-2009) in India. I hold postgraduate degrees in English Literature from the University of Delhi and specialised in translation studies as a Felix doctoral scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. My doctoral research focused on the Tamil Bible as a cultural object that was born out of debates on translation, language use, literature and religions in colonial south India.
Dr. Hephzibah Israel
Dr. Freddy Boswell
Banquet Address
Freddy Boswell works as a Senior Translation Consultant for SIL. He has served in a variety of SIL Global leadership roles, including Executive Director/CEO from 2008-2016, and International Translation Coordinator from 2000-2005. His field work experience has been based in Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, where he helped the Cheke Holo team complete their full Bible translation in 2022, and the Gao language finish their New Testament and Psalms in 2024. He currently assists various language groups and consultants-in-training in Eurasia, and he serves on the faculty of Dallas International University and the Canadian Institute of Linguistics. He is also the managing editor SIL’s Journal of Translation. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biblical studies from Oral Roberts University, and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Leiden University. He lives in Alabama, USA, and is married to Bekah. They have three married children and 3 grandchildren.
