The UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures
The King Faisal Center’s main role is to provide a knowledge platform, bringing together local, regional, and global researchers and research organizations to produce original research in the humanities and social sciences and engage in intellectual discussion and intercultural dialogues.
The Center established the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures in October 2023 with the support of
the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission. It will help to meet a growing need for interdisciplinary research in the Humanities and
Chair, Professor Moneera Al-Ghadeer
Professor Moneera Al-Ghadeer holds the UNESCO Chair and the leader of the Translating Cultures Lab. She is also a senior advisor at the Ministry of Culture. Professor Al-Ghadeer received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Her work focuses on Arabic, African-American, and Francophone literature, philosophy, oral tradition, and translation studies. She was the Arcapita Visiting Professor of comparative literature in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University and was a Shawwaf Visiting Professor at Harvard University. She was a tenured Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has received a number of fellowships and awards from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison along with a postdoctoral fellowship from Emory University. Her book, Desert Voices: Bedouin Women’s Poetry in Saudi Arabia (I.B. Tauris/American University of Cairo Press, 2009), is the first English translation and theoretical analysis of Bedouin women’s oral poetry from Saudi Arabia. She has had articles, book chapters, and translations published by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Columbia University Press, and Bloomsbury Publishing, in addition to having her work published in journals such as the Journal of Arabic Literature, Michigan Quarterly Review, Two Lines Press, asymptote, and Arablit, among others. Recently, she completed the translation of five poetry collections by Badr Bin Abdulmohsin and her anthology, Translating the World: Contemporary Poems from Saudi Arabia is forthcoming. Professor Al-Ghadeer has served on the advisory board of the Journal of Arabic Literature, the Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, and several cultural and book awards’ Advisory Committees.
The Chair’s Objectives
- Foster research and partnerships that promote translating cultures as a process of cross-cultural communication and dissemination of knowledge, bridging differences between cultures, emphasizing the translation of key cultural texts into and from Arabic, and focusing on creating South-South intercultural dialogue.
- Nurture a new generation of experts in translating cultures by developing and implementing initiatives that enhance teaching, learning, and research in the field of Translating Cultures and the Humanities. This includes offering fellowship programs, grants, and educational events open to the public.
- Disseminate research findings, best practices, and educational resources related to translating cultures through publications, seminars, workshops, and online platforms to reach a broader audience and foster a global understanding of cultural diversity within translation studies.
- Inspire innovative approaches, policies, and practices in the field of translating cultures to broaden the concept of ‘culture’ and enhance cultural diversity and understanding of Arab cultures through translation, thus advancing societal and institutional recognition of the value of cultural translation and fostering a more inclusive and diverse cultural landscape.
- Cooperate closely with UNESCO, other UNESCO Chairs, and UNITWIN Networks on relevant programs and activities.
Themes
The Strategic Languages for 2024
- English
- Chinese
- Spanish
- Korean
Advisory Board
About the UNESCO Chair
The UNESCO Chairs programme was launched in 1992 with the aim of promoting international
inter-university cooperation, to share knowledge and develop a collaborative work. There are now
some 1000 UNESCO Chairs in 120 countries.