[Event] IATIS – International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies 8th International Conference

Events

Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

10 – 13 December 2025

Sustainable Translation in the Age of Knowledge Extraction, Generation, and (Re)Creation

الترجمة المستدامة في عصر استخلاص المعرفة وتوليدها وإعادة إنتاجها

Call for Panels, Papers, Roundtables, Workshops and Artistic Initiatives

Following successful conferences in Seoul (2004), Cape Town (2006), Melbourne (2009), Belfast (2012), Belo Horizonte (2015), Hong Kong (2018) and Barcelona, (2021), IATIS is pleased to announce its call for panel, paper, roundtable, workshop, and artistic initiative proposals for its eighth conference to be held at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 10 – 13 Dec 2025.

Conference Theme

Against the backdrop of far-reaching and accelerated socio-technological changes in the 21st century, sustainability has emerged as one of the most critical issues to be addressed by scholars in a wide variety of disciplines, including those in translation studies, and faced by practitioners. At the same time, the meaning of sustainability in the context of translation and intercultural communication – and arguably in other disciplines (Engebretsen et al. 2016) – remains vague and inadequately conceptualized. A more critical and disciplined engagement with the idea of sustainable translation and knowledge practices, one that takes on board recent developments in fields as varied as computer science and artificial intelligence, and intersectionality studies, has become urgent.

Demand for more, better, and faster electronics to rapidly extract, store, and manipulate (vast amounts of) data in a variety of ways creates a corresponding demand for essential metals and has thus increased pressures on ecosystems. The Global North continues to off-load emissions to the Global South, perpetuating further forms of colonial-capitalist modes of extractivism.

Translators have increasingly been encouraged to use various computer-assisted translation tools, including machine translation, but the question of how sustainable these can be, has not been given serious consideration. Translators have been placed under increased pressure by constant surveillance of mechanical systems and dehumanised algorithmic decision-making (Moorkens 2023), while at the same time suffering financially from the growing volume of translations that is ‘recycled’.

Within this context, the conference aims to provide a much-needed forum for scholars from the region and across the world, to discuss the pivotal and changing roles of translation in the construction and circulation of knowledge across languages, cultures, and epistemologies in the age of big data, big capital, and conflicting approaches to safeguarding the future of our planet. We invite scholars from all disciplines and areas of inquiry who are interested in translation in all its forms – including but not limited to oral, written, audiovisual, multimodal, inter-linguistic, inter-semiotic and inter-cultural translation, in both conventional and non-conventional contexts – to participate and engage in critical, interdisciplinary discussions that address the multifaceted challenges of sustainability and their implications for translation theory, research, teaching and practice.

Conference themes

The conference will feature panels, individual papers, roundtables, workshops, and artistic initiatives. Themes include but are not limited to the following:

  • Translation and alternative discourses to sustainability – e.g., degrowth, ecosocialism, ecomodernism.
  • Translation and ecofeminism.
  • Eco-translation and the Anthropocene.
  • The translation/non-translation of literature on alternatives to sustainability from First Nations, Indigenous Knowledges and the Global South.
  • New frameworks, methodologies, and epistemologies: rethinking research agendas and field practices that engage with sustainability and/or degrowth and related agendas.
  • Anti- and post-humanist thought and other philosophical engagements with translation, sustainability, and alternative approaches.
  • Human-made disasters, crises, wars, and genocides: translating against mainstream discourses on sustainability.
  • Translation in environmental NGOs.
  • Heritage, archiving, and memory: sustainable and equitable documentation of the past and present through translation.
  • New forms of production in the language industry: repositioning of key players, reconfiguration of translation labour.
  • Volunteer translation, AI-assisted translation, and the sustainability of the profession, of the translation classroom and of translation studies.
  • The ethics and politics of translation and intercultural studies research, education, and practice: shifting centres and peripheries of knowledge.

Language Policy

All abstracts/proposals must be submitted in English for peer-review by the Advisory Board, but speakers will be given the choice to present in English or Arabic. Interpreting from English to Arabic and from Arabic to English will be provided according to available funds.

Key Deadlines

  • 15 November 2024: Deadline for potential conveners to submit panel, workshop, roundtable, or artistic initiatives.
  • 5 January 2025: Notification of acceptance to convenors.
  • 10 January 2025: Announcement of the accepted panels, workshops, roundtables and artistic initiatives & call for proposals (papers, posters, performances) within or beyond these pre-established formats.
  • 15 January 2025: Public release of the programme.
  • 10 April 2025:  Deadline for potential presenters to submit proposals.
  • 30 May 2025: Deadline for panel convenors to submit their complete panel.
  • 30 June 2025: Notification of acceptance of proposals (all formats).
  • 1 July 2025: Registration opens.
  • 30 September 2025: Early bird registration closes.

Structure of the Conference

Panels

Panels will serve as the cornerstone for structuring the conference programme. Panels are thematic, integrated discussions for 6 to 12 sessions on a clearly identified theme or topic. They should provide attendees with an opportunity to hear presenters engage in dialogue amongst themselves as well as with attendees about cutting-edge research, practice, theory building, and/or policy development.

Papers

These are individual presentations which form the backbone of the conference parallel sessions. Researchers can also send abstracts to be presented as papers independent of any panel in the conference particularly when the applications for panel submissions are closed. Papers are given the same amount of time given to panel session papers and they may be added by the conference scientific committee to an established conference panel, if relevant, and in consultation with the convener.

Roundtables

Roundtables run for one hour and provide opportunities for up to three participants with specific expertise and varying positions/opinions to discuss with one another, and with the audience, topics concerning the theme of the conference (Sustainable Translation in the Age of Knowledge Extraction, Generation, and (Re)creation).

Workshops

Pre-conference workshops run for a day or half a day on Dec 9 (preceding the main conference). These workshops are designed to be training sessions on a topic of interest to conference attendees, such as teaching and professional development, with a special emphasis on learning or developing new skills.

Artistic initiatives

These initiatives will reflect the cultures of the world. Artistic initiatives come from conference delegates and can be about or across cultures.

Social Programme

The programme will showcase the local Omani culture, the host organiser. This will be locally organised and coordinated with the IATIS team.

For more details, please visit: https://www.iatis.org/index.php/8th-conference-oman-2025/item/2837-theme-cfp