Arabic

The acquisition of oral/aural skills through intensive exposure to Arabic used both as the medium of communication and the object of study. It enables the student accurately to express his or her daily experiences in spoken and written Arabic, and to understand communications of a moderate level of difficulty.

This course continues building the linguistic skills that student acquired in previous semesters in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The students will improve their understanding of written texts and aural and audio-visual materials on a wide variety of topics, and will reinforce their knowledge through written exercises on selected topics. In addition, students will be introduced to various aspects of contemporary life and culture of the Arab world.

This course offers students a multidisciplinary overview of the nature of contemporary politics in the Middle East. In so doing, it concerns itself with sets of questions regarding the political roles of Islam, the changing dynamics of authoritarianism, the relationship between democracy and peace, the political and social effects of demographic and socioeconomic trends, and the importance and leverage of international forces.