Courses

ARAB-1010 (5) Beginning Arabic 1

Introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in the standard means of communication in the Arab world. This course is proficiency-based. All activities within the course are aimed at placing the student in the context of the native-speaking environment from the very beginning.

ARAB-1011 (3) Introduction to Arab and Islamic Civilizations

Provides an interdisciplinary overview of the cultures of the Arabic-speaking peoples of Southwest Asia and North Africa from the rise of Islam in the 7th century to the present. Readings include historical, religious, literary and cultural texts from both the medieval and modern eras. Taught in English. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity.

ARAB-1020 (5) Beginning Arabic 2

Continuation of ARAB 1010. Prereq., ARAB 1010 (min grade C) or placement.

ARAB-2110 (3) Intermediate Arabic 1

Proficiency-based course emphasizes speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Covers a variety of topics. Students give classroom presentations and write short essays in Arabic. Speaking ability is assessed through an oral proficiency interview. Prereq., ARAB 1020 (min grade C), or placement. Approved for GT-AH4. Meets MAPS requirement for foreign language.

ARAB-2120 (3) Second Year Arabic 2

Continuation of ARAB 2110. Prereq., ARAB 2110 (min grade C) or placement.

ARAB-3110 (3) Advanced Arabic I

Designed to train students further in the four language skills (writing, speaking, reading, listening/comprehension) at an advanced level. Enables students to acquire a better and broader understanding of Arabic culture and texts drawn from various genres of Arabic letters. Prereq., ARAB 2120 (min. grade C). Formerly ARAB 3010.

ARAB-3120 (3) Advanced Arabic II: Issues in Arabic Language and Culture for Business

Continues training in the four language skills (writing, speaking, reading, listening/comprehension) at an advanced level. Enables students to acquire a better and broader understanding of Arabic culture and texts drawn from various genres of Arabic letters. Prereq., ARAB 3010 or 3110 (min. grade C). Formerly ARAB 3020.

ARAB-3230 (3) Islamic Culture and the Iberian Peninsula

Examines Islamic, especially Arab, culture and history as it relates to the Iberian Peninsula from 92 Ah/711 Ce to the present. Taught in English. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context.

ARAB-3330 (3) The Arabic Novel

Focusing on the origins and development of the novel genre in the Arabic tradition, this course examines both the aesthetic qualities of the genre as an artistic form and the ways that it has depicted and intervened in the modern social, political, and cultural upheavals that have shaped the Arab world in the 20th century. Authors include Najib Mahfuz, Abd al Rahman Munif, Hanan al-Shaykh, and Ghassan Kanafani. Taught in English.

ARAB-3340 (3) Representing Islam

Explores the cultural politics of representations of the Arab and Islamic worlds both with an emphasis on literary representations of the Islamic world in travel narratives and novels from both the West and the Arab world. Examines historical, anthropological, and visual texts to consider how Islam has been narrated in colonial European imaginings about the Islamic world as well as contemporary representations.

ARAB-3350 (3) Narrating the City: Literary Mappings of the Urban Landscape

Examines literary narratives primarily from the Arabic tradition through focusing on the relationship of literature to the development and transformations of cities and urban spaces in the modern period. Begins with readings of 19th century European narratives that chronicle the changing space of the modern city followed by urban narratives from the Arabic literary tradition in order to comparatively examine how "universal' processes of modernization, development, and globalization in the modern world have been narrated. Writers include Mahfouz, Munif, al-Takarli, al-Aswani, Celik, Abu Lughod. Taught in English.

ARAB-4250 (3) Arabic Media

Designed to provide students with advanced Arabic language skills for use in the media. By negotiating authentic materials in Arabic, students will gain a perspective on global issues in the Arab and Islamic world and will attain a better awareness of Arab and Islamic culture. Prereq., three years of Arabic or equivalent, or instructor consent.

ARAB-4840 (1-3) Independent Study

Departmental approval required. May be repeated up to 7 total credit hours.