Middle East News Agency (MENA) hosted Al-Alsun students for the first time in its Summer 2021 internship programs.

A total of 57 Al-Alsun students, divided into three groups joined the International Organizations Translation program, while 13 students joined the Legal Translation program.

The students who joined the International Organizations Translation program were introduced to multiple organizations, specifically the UN along with some of its correlated terminology and the correct style of translating UN-related content.

The students who attended the Legal Translation training became acquainted with legal terms and jargon, the format of different legal documents as well as problematic issues in legal translation.

The Summer 2021 internship programs mark the beginning of an expectantly long and fruitful partnership between MENA and MIU.

Al-Ahram Regional Institute for Journalism, a long-term partner in training with MIU, offered two different training programs titled “Online Journalism and Journalistic Translation”, during the Summer of 2021.

A total of 30 students, divided into two groups, attended Online Journalism internship that provides an overview of content writing and creation for the internet. Students were introduced to the process through which news is identified and researched. Topics included types of headlines and news structure, multimedia elements in online articles, and photojournalism.

As for the Journalistic Translation Program, a total of 58 students, actively engaged in the training sessions. These sessions were on editorial and journalistic translation, covering different techniques of dealing with the translation of news, editing news articles, translation of headlines, common errors, and major problems that journalistic translators face and how to solve them.

Pursuant to the successful partnership between MIU Faculty of Al-Alsun and Mass Communication and iTranslate Group, Al- Alsun students, during Summer 2021, enjoyed an active field training program that consisted of four different tracks: Career Launch, CAT Tools, Legal Translation, and Subtitling.

The six students who attended the Career Launch course were introduced to general knowledge regarding the translation market, workshops in 5 different fields, usage of research tools, and an introduction to SDL Trados.

A total of 31 students, divided into two groups, joined the CAT Tools track. Students were introduced to CAT Tools, SDL Trados project cycle, translation memories, and term bases. Students also had hands-on training on SDL Trados Studio.

In the Legal Translation track, 12 students were acquainted with the field of legal translation, learned different legal styles, how to use legal research tools, and shared in practical workshops on selected texts.

Two groups, a total of 37 students, attended iTranslate subtitling workshops. Students became familiar with different subtitling software and tackled different subtitling issues such as ways to localize subtitles, and solve moral dilemmas in subtitling, as well as how to become a Netflix qualified subtitler. Al-Alsun students excelled in the practical workshops aimed at subtitling selected videos.

Al-Alsun third-year TEFL students revisit New Generation School from 27-29/3/2022. 19 TEFL students return to observe classes and see how exams are administered at the school to recap on their field-training visit in the Fall of 2021. Students are looking forward to a busy three-day visit that will allow them to reconnect with their supervising teachers and know more valuable information about the school examination system. This visit will help the students observe practically what they learn in their TEFL courses.

The Faculty of Al-Alsun and Mass Communication organized a seminar on “Dealing with Cyber Blackmail” on May 23, 2022. The seminar was led by Dr. Lamis Mekkawy, a lecturer in Pediatric Neurodisabilities and Behavioral medicine, at the Faculty of Postgraduate Childhood Studies, Ain Shams University, and the head of the Behavioral Medicine Department at Zayed Medical Center.

Mekkawy introduced the concept of cyber blackmail, its different types, as well as the motives behind this phenomenon. She also discussed the impact of cyber blackmailing on the victims and their families, as well as on society. In addition, Mekkawy highlighted a number of ways to recognize and prevent cyber blackmail.

The Faculty of Al-Alsun and Mass Communication organized its 2nd international conference on ” Digital Humanities and Social Sciences: Perspectives on Language, Literature and Media” on May 14-15, 2022. The conference was held in a hybrid format, combining both in-person and online sessions. The conference brought together scholars and practitioners to exchange and share their knowledge and experience of the emerging field of digital humanities from a variety of perspectives. It also provided an interdisciplinary platform for researchers to present and discuss the most recent innovations and trends in the field of digital humanities and social sciences. The conference invited 2 keynote speakers, Professor Sherief Shaheen of Cairo University and Professor Frederik Truyen of KU Leuven, Belgium. The conference presented a program of presentations over two days which focused on new insights within areas of humanities and social sciences research which have developed from the use of digital applications, and methodologies.

In its continuous efforts to provide support to the community, the Faculty of Al Alsun and Mass Communication organized a visit to Dar El-Sondons for orphans with special needs on the occasion of Orphans Day on March 30, 2022. 

During the visit, Professor Hanan Kilani, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environment Development, along with Dr. Ingy Emara, Associate Professor of Linguistics, and Dr. Maha Hamed, Assistant Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Al Alsun provided the orphanage with taped stories for kids recorded by Mass Communication students, DVDs of dubbed movies recorded by Al Alsun students, as well as toys and educational games. Dr. Kilani, Dr. Emara and Dr. Hamed spent time with the kids, enjoying various games and entertainment activities.

The Faculty of Al-Alsun and Mass Communication celebrated its 1^st annual community service day under the slogan, “Helping People … Changing Lives” on March 14, 2022.  In her welcome remarks, Professor Laila Galal Rizk, Dean of the Faculty, emphasized encouraging and promoting volunteerism as an important part of creating a better future for the community.  She thanked community partners and Faculty members for their efforts and commended students for engaging in community service which would provide them not only with the opportunity to become active members of their community, but also make a difference in their career prospects. 

 Professor Hanan Kilani, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environment Development, referred in her opening remarks to the faculty’s contribution to community service efforts during the past two years, in addition to the faculty’s plan to continue providing more services to the community.

The celebration included showing a short video that highlighted the faculty’s contributions, in addition to remarks by community partners, Ms. Rasha Esmat, Head of Programs Sector and Mr. Hassan Abdel Fattah, Human Development and Training Consultant and Technical Director at Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development, and Ms. Abeer Aglan, Special Education Consultant at the Right to Life Association.   Trophies and certificates of appreciation were distributed to honor community partners, Faculty members and students for their contributions to various community service activities.

The Elective Courses Department of the Faculty of Al Alsun and Mass Communication organized a virtual seminar on “Children and Education in Egypt” on January 5, 2022.  The seminar is the 5^th of a series of seminars titled “Features from Egypt’s Social History.” The seminar included three contributions, one by Dr. Yasser Abdel Maaboud called ‘Children’s Education during the Mamluk Period,’ followed by a second one presented by Dr. Sabry El-Adl on ‘Education and Childhood during the 19^th Century in Egypt,’ and a third contribution by Dr. Nashaat Hussein, titled ‘Learning Difficulties among Children and Adults.’ The seminar was attended by faculty members and students. 

As part of its mandate to support people with special needs, the Faculty of Al Alsun and Mass Communication organized two visits to the “Right to Live” Association headquarters on December 14 and 28, 2021.  Professor Hanan Kilani, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environment Development, Dr. Ingy Emara, Associate Professor of Linguistics, and Teaching Assistant Hana Mahgoub, Al Alsun Department, provided educational aids for people with special needs including some designed by Al Alsun students, in addition to posters designed by Mass Communication students to raise awareness of COVID-19.  During the visit on December 28, a number of Al Alsun students attended an orientation by Mr. Hassaan Abdel Fattah, Special Education Consultant and Technical Director at the “Right to Live” Association, about the educational programs for people with special needs and the opportunities of integrating them into the community.  In addition, the Faculty Studio team made a short video of the Association activities in order to show the skills of their trainees and introduce them to the job market.