CHSS Organizes Conference to Mark International Translation Day

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) hosted a specialized conference at Education City to celebrate the International Day of Translation. The event underscored the university’s leading role as an academic institution that combines advanced research, programs, and professional training to connect students with the labor market, while pursuing its broader mission of serving society and fostering global cultural dialogue.

This year’s conference featured prominent participation by the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding. The Award’s Head of Media Office, Abdulrahman Al-Marri, delivered the keynote speech, emphasizing the Award’s role in advancing translation as a means of fostering closer relations among peoples and disseminating Arab and Islamic culture. He further underscored the strong collaboration between both organizations to enrich intellectual and cultural exchange. This partnership affirms the strategic importance of translation as a tool for civilizational dialogue, bridging cultures, sharing expertise, and contributing to global discourse grounded in mutual understanding. It also reflects a shared institutional conviction that translation can only fulfill its transformative potential through sustained scholarly and cultural collaboration.

Discussions covered a wide range of topics, such as language policy, the role of Arabization in shaping national identity, knowledge justice, and the role of translation in rebalancing the global production and circulation of knowledge across cultures. 

Additionally, sessions focused on translation as a profession, raising key questions about its present and future, opportunities and challenges posed by AI technologies, and the implications of using these tools in the legal, media, medical, and other professions. The program also included a session about the cultural and creative aspects of translation.  

A distinctive feature of this year’s event was a dedicated session for CHSS graduate students to showcase their research. This reflects HBKU’s strong commitment to empowering young scholars by providing them with a platform to present their ideas in front of leading experts and academics, thereby enabling them to actively engage in research discourses and bridge the gap between education and professional practice.
 

Commenting on the occasion, Mazen Alfarhan, Manager, Translation and Training Center (TTC), said: “This conference aligns with the CHSS’s vision of consolidating HBKU’s role as a hub for cultural dialogue and intellectual creativity. Translation is no longer a secondary or purely technical activity; it has become a central pillar of cultural advancement and global openness. This conference provided a platform to enhance international understanding, positioning translators as cultural agents who build bridges between societies and contribute to reshaping the world into a more just, connected, and inclusive place.”  

By convening experts and stakeholders, the event reinforced the crucial role translation plays in shaping global communication, knowledge dissemination, and cultural preservation.