ICASTIS 2026

By Farouk Tazerouti, 28 October 2026 

I recently attended a conference organized by and held at Marmara University in Turkey called the International Congress on Academic Studies in Translation and Interpreting Studies (ICASTIS), which took place from 30 September to 2 October at the university’s Göztepe campus in the busy district of Kadiköy in Istanbul.  

There are many international conferences held globally each year. So, why did I choose this one? Its title – ‘The human translator: new roles and contexts’ – particularly drew my attention. While many other events now tend to focus on the role and impact of AI (a topic I must admit I am growing weary of), any discussion about human translation is indeed of particular interest to me, which is why I registered and flew to Istanbul without a moment’s hesitation.

And it was worth it. 

Speakers were from a range of countries including Algeria (well, myself!), Sweden, Austria, Estonia, Spain, Ireland, the UK (the brilliant Rebecca Tipton was there!), Japan, Germany and of course, a large number of experts from the host country’s different universities. The profiles included students, professors, researchers and practicing conference interpreters.  

Topics included the history of translation, public-service interpreting, translator & interpreter education and training, AI (not again!) and ethical considerations, literary and theatre translation, audiovisual translation, feminism and eco-translation. There were much more topics as there were not only two keynote speakers per day, but plenary and parallel sessions to cater for all types of interests and specializations.

There also seems to be increasing interest in and focus on translation in disaster contexts, and this comes as no surprise considering Turkey’s situation as a country often shaken by strong earthquakes. Organizations like ARC have long been training disaster-ready interpreters and I was pleased to have discussed the potential collaboration between ARC and interpreters from Algeria (also a seismic-prone country, unfortunately) for the precious knowledge of risk and crisis communication to be disseminated globally.

This is but a glimpse of the various subjects covered by the event. There were a lot more and the above represent mere examples of the sessions conducted in English, which I attended. I will let you imagine the larger number of sessions in Turkish… awesome!

Parallel sessions were in English and in Turkish, with simultaneous interpreting provided by the university’s volunteer students who did a great job and were congratulated by the faculty during the closing session.

This is not the first time I attended a translation-related international conference in Turkey. The country organizes several similar events each year, showing the interest it gives to languages in general and translation in particular. It is a country of migration where there are growing needs for language support services. 

During my short presentation on day three, I covered aspects related to the languages of Algeria, translation & interpreting education in the country, and the sworn (legal) translation accreditation system in place, and I proudly spoke about the numerous CPD opportunities offered by the organizations I am affiliated with (NWTN, AIT, ATC, METM, SENSE).

This academic event was not only an opportunity for learning and networking, but also for sharing great discussions with like-minded people during poster sessions, tea and lunch breaks. I am forever grateful, Marmara!