Global Studies University welcomed participants from the third Dakar Translation Symposium to its Sharjah campus on November 2, 2026, extending an academic exchange that included presentations by five GSU faculty members and doctoral students.

 

Hosted by New York University Abu Dhabi from October 29 to November 1, the symposium brought together scholars, artists, filmmakers, and cultural practitioners under the theme “Africa and Her Hospitality.” The Africa Institute at GSU participated as a collaborating academic partner.

 

Discussions explored how translation shapes encounters across languages and cultures, examining hospitality through literature, storytelling, performance, and social relations. GSU participants contributed research on African concepts of generosity, belonging, and responsibility toward others.

 

Regina Minael Fupi, Lecturer of Kiswahili, presented “The Guest Who Hosts: Utu and a Relational Ethics of Translation,” as a part of the panel “Linguistic Hospitality: Terenga, Ubuntu, and Arabic Epistemology.”

 

Aliyu Mastafa Lawal, Lecturer of Hausa, examined generosity in Hausa praise poetry in his paper, “Generosity in Hausa Panegyric Poetry: An Analytical Reading.” 

 

Surafel Wondimu Abebe, Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and Theory, presented “Translation as Re-membering: Performing Poetic and Social Justice,” contributing to a panel on displacement, distance, and justice.

 

Doctoral student Kate Qazi presented “Hosting Stories, Transforming Languages: Folktales, Linguistic Hospitality, and Decolonial Translation” as part of a discussion on reciprocity and the politics of translation.

 

Doctoral student Enea Onuya Emmanuel presented “Hosting the Other: Ubuntu, Teranga, and Karam as a Triadic Framework for Translation Hospitality,” contributing to  the panel on “Linguistic Hospitality: Terenga, Ubuntu, and Arabic Epistemology.”

 

The presentations gave faculty and students an opportunity to share their research with an international scholarly community and engage with approaches spanning African languages, literary traditions, and cultural practices.

 

The following day’s visit to GSU introduced symposium participants to the university’s academic programs and research community. Binyam Sisay Mendisu, Associate Dean of The Africa Institute and Professor of African Languages and Linguistics, and Gregory Pardlo, Program Head and Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at NYU Abu Dhabi, jointly welcomed the guests.

 

Professor Salah M. Hassan, Chancellor of GSU and Dean of The Africa Institute, introduced the university and the Institute, followed by an overview of graduate programs from Professor Mendisu. Grieve Chelwa, Chair of the Department of Social Sciences and Associate Professor of Political Economy, and Philathia Bolton, Chair of the Department of Humanities and Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Literature and Cultural Studies, facilitated an open discussion with the visitors.

 

The program concluded with a visit to photography exhibitions at Sharjah Art Foundation, extending the exchange into the city’s cultural spaces.