Khitam Awards Dinner

The annual Khitam Awards Dinner was first initiated in 2015 to honor students graduating from the Master of Arts in Translation Studies Program (MATS) and the Master of Arts in Audiovisual Translation Program (MAAT).

Khitam 2015

The inaugural ceremony, hosted at the Translation and Interpreting Institute, kicked off with opening remarks by Dr. Amal in which she congratulated the 2nd MATS cohort to graduate from TII. Next on the agenda was an original poem recited by MATS graduate, Sofian Abdeldayem, as a gift from him to his fellow classmates.

The Class of 2015 received senior gifts from Dr. Salah Basalamah, interim Director of TII’s Postgraduate Studies and Research Department. The senior gift was chosen based on the concept of Khitam as inspired by the Holy Quran in Surat Al Mutaffifin: خِتَامُهُ مِسْكٌ وَفِي ذَلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ الْمُتَنَافِسُونَ, which translates to: The sealing of it is (with) musk; and for that let the aspirers aspire}; and so in celebration of the end of their journey at TII, each of the graduates received musk in a personalized wooden box as their senior gift.

In addition, MATS graduate Salahedin El Hawary received a special award in recognition of his outstanding thesis, and MATS graduates Sofian Abdeldayem and Najla Al Maliki were hen presented the “Khitam Award” in recognition of their commitment and leadership inside and outside of the classroom. Dr. Sue-Ann Harding was also recognized with the Faculty Excellence Award, and Dr. Salah Basalamah with the TII Excellence Award.

Khitam 2016

The award ceremony, hosted at Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s Student Center, kicked off with opening remarks by Dr. Amal Al Malki in which she confirmed TII’s commitment to provide high quality postgraduate education. Dr. Al Malki congratulated the 3rd MATS & 1st MAAT cohorts for graduating from TII & receiving the FTI Quality Label from the University of Geneva for both programs.

Next on the agenda was a motivational speech by Khaled Al-Ameri, UAE social columnist for the Gulf Today Newspaper, who reflected on his personal experiences and highlighted the importance of being an agent of change in the Arab World.

The Class of 2016 received trophies from Dr. Ovidi Carbonell, the Director of TII’s Postgraduate Studies and Research Department. In recognition of Students' outstanding theses, program coordinators Dr. Nicholas Cifuentes-Goodbody & Dr. Rashid Yahiaoui presented Olena Snitko (MATS) & Saleh Dardeer (MAAT) with special awards. The “Khitam Award” was then presented by Dr. Amal Al Malki to MAAT graduates Ghanimeh & Noor El-Taweel.

Khitam 2017

The 2017 Khitam Awards ceremony was hosted at the Qatar National Convention Center, and was kicked off by opening remarks by Dr. Amal in which she congratulated the 4th MATS cohort and the 2nd MAAT cohort to graduate from TII. Dr. Amal’s opening remarks were followed by a student address delivered by MATS graduate Heba Al-Kebabji, and the presentation of the Senior Gift to the graduates.

Ibrahim Sowan (MATS) and Omama Osman (MAAT) received awards in recognition of their outstanding theses, Shaimaa Ziara (MATS) was the recipient of the Khitam Award, and Dr. Joselia Neves and Dr. Ashraf Abdel Fattah were honored with the Faculty Excellence Award. In addition, the graduating class chose to honor select staff members in recognition for their support, and awarded Owen Connor, Haitham Mousa, Fatema Al Atawneh, Rocky Gracian, Amin Mohammed, and Reine Atrach.

The ceremony concluded with the presentation of the Senior Superlatives by the Senior Class Committee, and a senior video put together by the graduating class of 2017.