• Description
• Requirements
• Transfer Credits
• Summer Institute Credit Equivalencies 
• Study Abroad
• Becoming an Arabic Studies Major
• Advisor Contact Information

DESCRIPTION

The 42-credit major in Arabic Studies provides students with a solid background in the linguistic, literary, and cultural aspects of the modern Arab World, including the North Africa, Egypt, the Arab Middle East, and the Arab diasporas in the U.S. and Europe, as well as minority communities in Arab countries (Armenian, Kurdish, Berber, Copts, etc.).

The B.A. in Arabic Studies prepares students for a range of professional opportunities, including careers in government, education, business, and international development and communication. Students work toward competence in speaking, reading, writing, and listening, as well as advanced knowledge of Arab cultures. The Arabic Program offers extensive linguistic training in both literary Arabic (fusHa) and Arabic dialects, using an integrated approach where colloquial and literary Arabic are learned simultaneously. Students will achieve cultural fluency by exploring diverse Arab societies and cultural zones and will learn to approach them from a global perspective. Many undergraduates choose to double major in Arabic and another subject in the arts and humanities, business, science, politics, or journalism.

Modern Standard Arabic is the formal variety of Arabic used throughout the Arab world, particularly for reading and writing. Egyptian Colloquial Arabic and Levantine Colloquial Arabic are among the major spoken varieties in the Middle East. All Arabic language courses us an integrated method where Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial Arabic are taught simultaneously as two registers of the Arabic linguistic discourse. Upon completing four semesters of Arabic (ARAB 104, ARAB 105, ARAB 204, ARAB 205), students will take the Egyptian dialect sequence (ARAB 206, ARAB 207) or another dialect sequence (when offered) to deepen their knowledge of the dialect and culture.  

Once credits have been received for a higher-level language focus course, a lower-level course in the same strand may not be taken for credit. For example, ARAB 204 may not be taken after ARAB 205, and a core language course cannot be taken after a content course in Arabic.

The Arabic language curriculum is designed for second language acquisition and targets non-native speakers. None of the Arabic language courses are open to fluent and native speakers of Arabic. 

REQUIREMENTS 

Notes:

• See TESTUDO for the current list of ARAB course offerings
• All students enrolling in an SLLC language course for the first time must take the Foreign Language Placement Test (FLPT) [1].
• Students must take language acquisition courses sequentially. Once credit has been received in a higher-level language acquisition or grammar course, a lower-level course may not be taken for credit.
• Courses in Middle Eastern Studies taught in English outside the department may be occasionally substituted on approval of the Program Advisor or Program Director.
• While most courses taught in Arabic are not open to fluent or native speakers of Arabic, others may be. Please talk to the program advisor before registering.

TRANSFER CREDITS

All transfer courses for which you wish to receive credit towards the major must be reviewed by the ARAB Undergraduate advisor. Note that the student's final 30 credits must be completed in residence at UMD, of which at least 12 must be upper-level credits in the major.

SUMMER INSTITUTE CREDIT EQUIVALENCIES 

UMD students enrolled in the Summer Language Institute can count their summer courses towards their Arabic degree program. Please see the chart below for course equivalencies:

Please note the following two rules: 

(1) Although 3^rd year Summer Institute students will earn 12 university credits in total, only 9 credits will be applicable towards their Arabic degree: the equivalents of ARAB304 and 305 (3 credits each) and one 3-credit upper-level content course in Arabic.

(2) During the Summer Institute, dialect is incorporated into the daily curriculum. Therefore those students who complete ARAB315 and 316 in the summer, are not required to take ARAB206 and ARAB207 in the following fall and spring semesters, but instead can take two additional 3-credit electives in Arabic in place of ARAB206 and 207. 

STUDY ABROAD

For information on study abroad programs see the Undergraduate Advisor and contact UMD Education Abroad [2].

DECLARING AN ARABIC STUDIES MAJOR

We recommend that interested students declare their major as early as possible

ADVISOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Advisor: Ahmed Hanafy
Office: 3138 HJ Patterson Hall
Email: ahmeda@umd.edu [9]
 

For more information about advising, please visit the advising section [10] of our website.