On February 2, 2026, the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS), supported by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, hosted Professor Jonathan Smolin, Professor Tarek El-Ariss, and Mr. Joshua Cuscaden of Dartmouth College at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. The visit came at a moment of deepening collaboration between Dartmouth College and the UNESCO Chair, as efforts to establish a formal partnership between the two institutions continue and as Dartmouth expands the new Dartmouth Initiative for Middle East Exchange (DIMEX), a pilot endeavor with a mission to support research and collaboration between academic disciplines and across national borders. 

At the Center, the visitors attended a presentation that showcased the Chair’s activities and mission. The visitors had the opportunity to discover the Chair’s publications, events, and partnerships, as well as to discuss the Chair’s research objectives and the work that is being done to achieve them. The emerging strategic partnership between the Chair and Dartmouth College, enhanced by this visit, presents newly developed pathways for excellence in student research and offers novel avenues for the Chair to expand its global work of translating cultures.