HBKU's 8th International Translation Conference Launches

Doha, March 27 (QNA) - The Translation and Interpreting Institute's (TII) eighth International Translation Conference, part of Hamad Bin Khalifa Universitys (HBKU) College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), kicked off on Monday at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC). The two-day conference is held under the theme "21st Century Demands: Translators and Interpreters towards Human and Social Responsibilities" and tackles translators' ethical responsibility, often overlooked in an increasingly volatile socio-political international context. The only event of its kind held annually and exclusively for translation and interpreting scholars and practitioners in the Middle East, the conference aims to be a platform for industry stakeholders to meet and tackle themes subject to international debate, ultimately reshaping the boundaries of a profession faced with the ever-changing expectations of a globalized economy. "Ethics and social responsibility in practice, for a profession that often deals with sensitive domains such as law, politics, healthcare, socio-economics, and activism, is a very challenging task," said Dr. Amal Al Malki, founding dean of CHSS at HBKU. "People often overlook the fact that the role of translators or interpreters goes beyond just dealing with words; they are mediators in essence social, political, cultural mediators, as need be. This role becomes critical in sensitive contexts, where the translators ethics and social responsibility is at play." The agenda for the first day included five separate panel discussions on a wide range of topics dealing with social responsibility. Topics covered included socio-political analysis of major issues relating to the Gulf and the broader Middle East and North Africa region, focusing on how translation can play a part in ethically representing an issue in the broader public discourse. In addition to the panel discussions, two individual workshops were held in an effort to emphasize the crucial link between theory and practice. The first workshop focused on "Translation Ethics: Identification, Analysis and Response to Ethical Issues in Translation," whereas the second focused on "Practices and Benefits of Translation in Legal, Health Care and Community Areas." (QNA)