International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies

9^th International Conference

University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

Christchurch, New Zealand

7-10 December

Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis

Conference Theme

Language, hospitality, and crisis are, and always have been, historically and globally intertwined concepts.

The notion of hospitality is deeply rooted in complex and long-standing histories of encounters; of conflict and persecution; but also of travel and adventure. The specular relationship between alterity and subjectivity is at its core, and so too is the very fabric of sociability. The closest Te Reo Māori equivalent to hospitality, manaakitanga, echoes this dynamic, as it implies the collective nurturing of relationships in which the mana (dignity, prestige, and spiritual power) of all those involved is upheld and elevated. From these histories and terms, we are confronted with the (unwritten) rules, obligations, and laws related to hospitality which encapsulate examples on a micro- and macrostructural level: from welcoming guests into a nation—as immigrants or refugees—to providing shelter and support in the community in times of crisis, right down to individual acts of kindness and aid, such as welcoming a friend, family-member or stranger into one’s home. However, not all guests and hosts are created equal, and hospitality is not always synonymous with kindness and welcoming. The (de)colonial perspectives evident from Latin America to Oceania and beyond, where indigenous peoples were constructed as ‘unwelcome guests’ in their own land, offer fruitful examples of how historically, as well as in contemporary contexts, hospitality has often functioned as a lens through which asymmetrical power relations can be understood.

Several linguists and philosophers have scrutinized the ambivalence inherent to hospitality, elucidating its semantic and pragmatic conceptions, as well as its etymological misunderstandings and polysemy. Paola Zaccaria summarizes this dynamic as follows: “In Latin, the guest, being a stranger, was called both hospes (whence the etymological root of hospitality) and hostis, which means “enemy.” [Émile] Benveniste argued that the notion of favorable stranger evolved into guest, while a hostile stranger was considered an enemy" (Zaccaria, 2022, p. 182). Such etymological linkage led Jacques Derrida to coin the neologism “hostipitality” (Derrida & Dufourmantelle, 2000), suggesting that welcoming the Other can lead to a host’s vulnerability, and that embedded within hospitality are the very seeds of its own potential destruction. Welcoming the guest—the Other, a frenemy, AI—can lead to the host’s sovereignty unravelling, where sovereignty can be understood in its broadest conceptual sense possible: one’s space (or home) as well as one’s identity and integrity. This intersubjective blending is even more apparent when we take into consideration that Derrida writes in French where the term hôte can denote, depending on the context, either guest or host. Interpretations and translations of hospitality continue today: whether it be as a pragmatic form or an abstract, philosophical construct, the concept will (and arguably should) never be laid to rest.

While the very notion of hospitality, the givenness of its communal veracity is obviously enabling, we do not need to look too far in our current climate to witness how conceptually, at least, it has been called into crisis. ‘Crisis,’ at its very root, indicates a turning point and a decision. Not all crises are therefore inherently bad or negative, and yet the term is rarely shrouded in positivity. In a post-truth era; as we explore the use and limits of AI; as we further communicate through the semiotics of emojis; as teeter-tottering governments modify language policies, and as institutional settings regulate and enact the boundaries in which we work and live, we must ask: is language—and are languages—in crisis? And can the same be said of hospitality? Translation, Interpreting, and interculturality are at the very heart of both hospitality and crisis, as the latter inevitably creates contexts of language contact due to globalization, as well as chosen and forced migration.

With this conference topic, there are two potential thematic avenues for presenters to explore in relation to Translation, Interpreting, as well as Intercultural Studies: one more aligned with the multifaceted notion and voices of ‘hospitality’ and the other with ‘crisis.’ This conference therefore calls on scholars, educators, and practitioners to reflect and present on these disciplines and their interaction with these themes as they play out in their professional, creative, and scholarly reflections and important work.

Possible subthemes to explore include:

·           T&I and the guest-host dynamic

·           Violence in/and T&I

·           Language(s) in crisis

·           Hospitality and crisis

·           Regional and minority languages

·           Data Sovereignty and indigenous languages

·           AI and/in crisis – trust, machine translation, and language access in crisis situations

·           T&I in hospitality & tourism

·           T&I in regional conflicts

·           T&I in natural disasters

·           Hospitality and ethics in relation to volunteer translation, AI-assisted translation, and the sustainability of the profession

·           The translation/non-translation of literature as examples of hostipitality

·           Rethinking T&I and sovereignty through Indigenous Knowledges

·           The ethics and politics of translation and intercultural studies research, education, and practice: a turning point?

·           (Feminist) ethics of care

·           Disability Studies and the Politics of language(s) in translation and interpretation – who gets to speak?

·           Lost languages – linguistic preservation, hospitality, and ethics

·           Resisting the status quo – rethinking dissemination of translations as a question of the commons

Language Policy

·      All abstracts/proposals for individual papers (20 minutes each) and panels must be submitted in English or Te Reo Māori for peer-review by the Advisory Board, and all papers will be presented in English or Te Reo Māori. Interpreting will be provided contingent on available funds.

·      Workshop proposals must be submitted in English or Te Reo Māori for peer-review by the Scientific Committee; however, presentations during workshops in languages other than English or Te Reo Māori are welcome. A minimum of two presenters is required for workshops. Interpreting will be provided contingent on available funds.

Key Deadlines

·      5 November 2026: Deadline for potential convenors to submit panel, workshop, roundtable or artistic initiatives

·      20 December 2026: Announcement of the accepted proposals (panels, workshops, roundtables and artistic initiatives) & call for papers and performances.

·      20 March 2027: Individual abstract submission to accepted panels and general sessions

·      5 June 2027: Notification of acceptance of proposals (all formats).

·      5 June 2027: Registration opens 

·      1 August 2027: Closing date for early registration

Registration

·      5 June 2027: Registration opens

·      1 August 2027: Early-bird registration closes

Link to registration: to be provided soon.

Solidarity Fund and Bursaries for Band 3 & 4 Countries

More information to be provided soon.

CALL FOR PANELS

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 within the larger theme of the conference (“Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis”). 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.

Important: at this stage, you do not need to have a list of speakers or abstracts. Your panel proposal will be assessed by the Scientific Committee. If accepted, your panel will then be posted on the IATIS website and turned into a thematic call for papers open for anyone to submit. Panel convenors will be in charge of reviewing all abstracts submitted to their panel. The members of the scientific committee will review panel convenors’ selection before a notification of acceptance of abstracts can be issued.

Timeline for Panels

·      Submission of panel proposals: 5 November 2026

·      Announcement of accepted panel proposals: 20 December 2026

·      Submission to accepted panels: 20 March 2027

·      Acceptance notification: 1 June 2027

Link to the submission platform: to be provided soon.

The following information will be required:

·      Details about the convenor(s): name, surname, affiliation, bionote (approx..100 words) and contact address

·      Details about the proposal: abstract (approx. 500 words)

·      Optional: Tentative list of speakers and subtopics covered, if any. Please note that even if you have a list of possible speakers, all accepted panels remain open to submissions by interested IATIS delegates

See examples of IATIS panels in previous conferences:

·      Oman Panels 2025

·      Barcelona Panels 2021

·      Hong Kong Panels 2018

CALL FOR WORKSHOPS

Pre-conference workshops run for a day or half a day on Dec 6 (or Dec 7, subject to enrolment numbers). 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.

Timeline for Workshops

·      Submission of workshop proposals: 5 November 2026

·      Announcement of acceptance: 20 December 2026

·      Workshop Registration: 5 June 2027

CALL FOR ARTISTIC INITIATIVES

These initiatives will reflect the cultures of the world. Artistic initiatives come from conference delegates and can be about or across cultures. They should address the topic of the conference (“Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis”).

Timeline for Artistic Initiatives 

·      Submission of artistic initiative proposals: 5 November 2026

·      Announcement of acceptance: 20 December 2026

CALL FOR PAPERS

These are individual presentations that form the backbone of the conference's parallel sessions. Researchers can send abstracts to be presented as papers in thematic panels (accepted panels, see above) or independent of any panel in the conference. 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 convenor.

Timeline for Papers

·      Call for individual papers: 20 December 2026

·      Deadline for potential presenters to submit abstracts for papers in and beyond thematic panels: 20 March 2027

·      Announcement of accepted papers: 1 June 2026

Link to the submission platform: to be provided soon.

The following information will be required:

·      Details about the presenter(s): name, surname, affiliation, bionote (100 words approx.) and contact address

·      Abstract (250 words approx.)

See examples of IATIS papers in previous conferences

·      Oman Papers 2025

·      Barcelona Papers 2021

·      Hong Kong Papers 2018