The Translation and Interpreting Institute of Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF) for Education, Science, and Community Development, organized its Sixth Annual International Translation Conference. The event, scheduled for March 23-24, 2015 at the Qatar National Convention Center, explored translation as a key vehicle in the creation of knowledge and the bridging of gaps within and across cultures, in and beyond the Gulf.

The conference included workshops, panels, seminars, and keynote addresses. Examining the role of translation in the Arab ‘Renaissance’ (Al-Nahda), Dr. Daniel Newman, Head of the Arabic Department and Course Director of the MA degree in Arabic-English Translation and Interpreting at the University of Durham (UK), offered a keynote address titled, “The Beginnings of Arab(ic) Translation Theory in the Modern Age: The 19th-Century Translation Movement Revisited”.

Conference attendees benefited from a variety of seminar choices, including “Audio Description: The Visual Made Verbal”, in which Dr. Joel Snyder, Director of the American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project-ADP and a pioneer in his field, discussed making theater events, museum exhibitions, media, and art accessible to the visually-impaired. Additionally, four workshops were held at the conference that focused on the challenges facing translators in the fields of politics, sport, literature, and the media.

From the 58 abstracts the institute received, 22 panelists were selected and the attendees were from Egypt, Qatar, Spain, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Sweden, Algeria, Palestine, and the United States. Dr. Amal Al-Malki, Executive Director of TII, notes: “TII’s Annual International Translation Conference has become a hub for scholarly exchange and professional development and networking. We have created an international forum in Doha on translation and interpreting that cuts along difference disciplines, generating timely and important discussions on such issues as inter-cultural communication, media, and gender."

“This year’s conference was particularly exciting because of its relevancy. We brought the Gulf to the equations and situate it in the bigger picture, as both an influencer and being influenced by the different linguistics, cultural and ideological flows.”