AUS MATI alumnus attains PhD from leading Australian University

With a passion for academia and almost two decades of field experience in translation and interpreting, American University of Sharjah (AUS) alumnus Hayyan Alrosan has recently received his PhD in Linguistics from Macquarie University in Australia and is set to expand on his promising career in academia.

Dr. Alrosan received his Master of Arts in English/Arabic/English Translation and Interpreting (MATI) with distinction from American University of Sharjah (AUS) in 2012. After receiving his master’s from AUS, he pursued a Master of Research in Linguistics from Australia’s Macquarie University on a full scholarship to study audiovisual translation. Upon completion of the program in 2017, he was awarded the University Medal for Linguistics for demonstrating exceptional academic excellence and was selected as the graduation speaker for the Human Sciences Faculty.

Dr. Alrosan boasts more than 16 years of experience as a simultaneous interpreter and translator with the UAE Armed Forces and the Embassy of the UAE / Military Attaché Office in Canberra, Australia’s capital. He is also a certified translator (English into Arabic) with the Australian National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).

“My plan is to advance my career in academia by harnessing my own professional experience and encyclopedic knowledge of the field which I have acquired through my studies and professional career,” he said.

Dr. Alrosan’s PhD dissertation, entitled “Translation of Cultural References in the Subtitling of Anglophone Feature Films into Arabic: A Parallel Corpus-Based Study,” focused on identifying the strategies applied by subtitlers in 45 anglophone feature films in translating from English to Arabic. The dissertation also examined whether there is a correlation between film genre and the distribution of cultural references.

As the starting point of his academic journey, AUS is considered a “second home” by Dr. Alrosan.

“It was the place where I met my lovely wife, Budor Al Alami, who is also an AUS alumna and is currently pursuing her PhD in Translation at the Australian National University in Australia. For many students, AUS was a true source of inspiration, encouragement and motivation. The culturally diverse environment of AUS taught us respect and ethics. I was also mentored by several prominent translatologists in the field. My supervisors—Dr. Ahmed Ali, Dr. Basil Hatim and Dr. Said Faiq—collectively honed my academic skills and imparted invaluable knowledge one may not find in books. Words cannot express how thankful I am for their support. I am sincerely proud to have been a student of theirs,” he said.

The Department of Arabic and Translation Studies at the College of Arts and Sciences at AUS is a diverse department with research and teaching expertise in four broad areas of Arabic studies. This includes an active translation studies program with a master’s degree that aims to provide its students with well-rounded preparation for work or further study in the field of translation and interpreting, including practical training in conference interpreting in a purpose-built interpreting lab. It also hosts undergraduate minors in translation and in Arabic studies, the study of Arabic literary heritage, and Arabic language teaching.

For more information about the AUS Master of Arts in English/Arabic/English Translation and Interpreting (MATI), please visit www.aus.edu/cas/mati.