Beginning Arabic I The goal of this course is to begin developing reading, speaking, listening, writing, and cultural skills in Arabic. This course stresses written and oral communication, using both formal Arabic and some Egyptian dialect. Emphasis is also placed on reading authentic texts from Arabic media sources, listening to and watching audio and video materials, and developing students' understanding of Arab culture. 6 hrs lect/disc.

Beginning Arabic II This course is an intensive continuation of ARBC 0101. In addition to the goals stated for that course there will be extra emphasis on cultural skills during winter term. (ARBC 0101 or equivalent).

Beginning Arabic III This course is a continuation of ARBC 0102.

Intermediate Arabic I This course is a continuation of ARBC 0103. Emphasis is placed on reading authentic materials from Arabic media, expanding students' vocabulary, listening to and watching audio and video materials, and developing students' understanding of Arab culture and communicative competence.

Intermediate Arabic II This course is a continuation of Arabic 0201. Fifth in a series of courses that develop reading, speaking, listening, writing, and cultural skills in Arabic.  This course stresses communication in formal and spoken Arabic. (ARBC 0201 or equivalent).

Modern Palestinian Literature In this course we will explore how modern Palestinian literature grapples with questions of belonging, nationalism, memory, and colonialism. Questions about what it means to have a Palestinian literature or be Palestinian, and the challenges of even asking the question will also be explored. We will examine different notions of being Palestinian by focusing on the literature, film, art, and music produced by three main axes of Palestinian society: Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians within Israel, and the Palestinian Diaspora. We will read novels from a range of time periods by writers such as Fadwa Tuqan, Mahmoud Darwish, Adania Shibli, Suheir Hammad, among others and analyze a number of other cultural and artistic expressions from the early 20th century to the present. Secondary readings and discussions will set these works in contemporary historical, cultural, and political perspectives. Students will emerge with a deep understanding of Palestinian cultural production and will be prepared to engage more widely with questions of narrative, representation, and identity.

Arabic Sociolinguistics (taught in English) In this course we will focus on the inter-relationships between the way Arabic is used by native speakers and the various social contexts affecting that usage. In particular, we will discuss the phenomenon of diglossia in Arabic speech communities (that is, the co-existence of Modern Standard Arabic with the vernacular Arabic dialects of today); aspects of linguistic variation and change in the Arab world; the relation between register and language; as well as the relation between language and such sociological variables as education, social status, political discourse, and gender. Readings are primarily drawn from sociolinguists' studies in the Arab world.

Food Security in Lebanon In this course we will begin with a short history of Lebanon’s agrarian to urban transition to look at its contemporary food system, asking such questions as: Who profits from the food system? How viable is agriculture in Lebanon? Does this system provide food security? This course will provide students with an understanding of how global and local political/financial systems have extracted wealth from farmers, and have left the Lebanese in a state of fluctuating food insecurity. We will look at commodity chains, crop selection, markets, farmer to farmer relations, and the role of Syrian crops entering the country. We will draw on the work of NGOs, UNEP reports, media, policy papers, and the academic literature.

Gender Politics of the Arab World The aim of this course is to explore the ways in which the social and cultural construction of sexual difference shapes the politics of gender and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa. Using interdisciplinary feminist theories, we will explore key issues and debates including the interaction of religion and sexuality, women’s movements, gender-based violence, queerness and gay/straight identities. Looking at the ways in which the Arab Spring galvanized what some have called a “gender revolution,” we will examine women’s roles in the various revolutions across the Arab World, and explore the varied and shifting gender dynamics in the region. Taught in English (formerly ARBC/GSFS 0328) 3 hrs. Sem.

Blackness and the Arab Imaginary (In English) Blackness as a category of analysis in the Middle East and North Africa, while fundamental to opening the field to the study of race and the legacies of slavery, remains understudied and deserving of critical attention. In this course we will explore the historic and political category of “blackness” and examine how black identities are constructed in the cultural and epistemological production of the Arab world and the Arab Diaspora through literature, critical scholarship, music, and cinema. We will address imperial and transnational dimensions of blackness as well as its increasing relevance for understanding new racial configurations in the contemporary Middle East and the Arab Diaspora.

Human-Environment Relations: Middle East In this course we will begin with an environmental history of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, asking such questions as: How does politics affect conservation practice? To what extent are formulations of nature constructed socially and politically? Whose rights are affected by protected areas and who decides governance criteria? The objectives of this course include providing students with an understanding of human-environment relations theory by addressing the regional specifics of modern environmental and social histories of these countries. We will look at animals, water, and forests in the literature of NGOs, UNEP reports, media, policy papers, and the academic literature. (One of the following: ENVS 0112, GEOG 0100, IGST 0101, SOAN 0103; Or by approval)

Arabic Literature between War and Translation In this course we will explore the idea that translation can serve as a bridge across cultures—while questioning when and how that assumption holds true. Focusing on the Arabic-English context, we’ll examine how translation has been used and understood in a world shaped by war, migration, and increasing militarization. What does it mean to translate a language that has been described as “controversial,” “embargoed,” or even “untranslatable”? Can translation really foster understanding across such deep divides? Through case studies, readings, and discussion, we’ll look at how translation operates in politically charged contexts and what it reveals about power, language, and cross-cultural communication. No knowledge of Arabic is required.

Advanced Arabic 1 A continuation of Arabic 0202. This course aims to help students reach an intermediate-high level of proficiency in reading, speaking, writing, listening, and culture. Readings include articles on cultural, social, historical, political and literary topics.

Advanced Arabic II This course is a continuation of Arabic 0301. It aims to help students reach an advanced level of proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing Arabic, as well as to develop further an understanding of Arab culture. Readings include articles on cultural, social, historical, political, and literary topics.  Course will be conducted entirely in Arabic.

Readings in Classical Arabic Prose (in Arabic) Classical Arabic prose is one of the delights of world literature.  A product of the vibrant intellectual climate of the 'Abbasid Caliphate (750 - 1258 CE), Classical Arabic prose embodies a humanistic sensitivity and inquisitive depth that has set the standard for literary Arabic.  In this course we will read representative texts from some major genres of Classical Arabic prose: geography, history, philology, biography, and the tradition of courtly belles-lettres.  Students will also be presented with the opportunity to read hand-written manuscripts.

Contemporary Arab Cinema This course will present an overview of contemporary Arab cinema, exploring the way in which this cinema reflects the dynamics of political, economic, and social change in modern Arab societies. The course will be conducted exclusively in Arabic and will involve reading texts that present an overview of contemporary Arab cinema as well as texts analyzing notable and award-winning Arabic films.

Advanced Readings: Arabic across History In this course we will read a variety of Arabic texts representing different eras in the history of Arabic, from pre-Islamic times in the Arabian Peninsula until the modern era in the Arab world. Readings will be mostly drawn from Arabic poetry across its different eras, as well as from religious and historical texts. Other types of texts will be chosen in consultation between students and instructor. In addition to discussion of the linguistic features of texts, we will address their literary, historical, and cultural aspects.

Readings in Modern Arabic Literature In this course students will engage modern and contemporary literature in the original Arabic language.  In addition to reading an Arabic novel, we will examine other literary-aesthetic genres such as poetry, plays, and short stories.  Throughout, we will analyze and discuss the role of modern Arabic literature in exposing and challenging various systems of marginalization and injustice in the Arab world and beyond.

Displacement in Modern Arab Culture Displacement has shaped the modern Arab world and continues to do so, driving populations into exile and diaspora from North Africa, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Iraq, and elsewhere in the Arab world. Cultural production from the Arab world is deeply influenced by the communal experience of displacement and responds to it in a variety of ways. In this course, we will analyze how themes of migration, exile, and diaspora manifest in literature, film, and contemporary artistic expression. Through critical examination and discussion, students will gain insight into the ways in which Arab identities and narratives are shaped by the experience of upheaval, and what potential impacts it may have on Arab cultural production and language in the future.

Sex, Love, and Desire in Arab Popular Culture In this course we will  challenge Western judgments about Arab sexuality and desire as inherently repressive. We will survey the permutations of desire -- from the sexual to the sacred, the heteroerotic to the homoerotic—in popular Arab culture. We will consider the intersections of gender, nation, race, ethnicity, ability, and sexuality in cinema, literature, and music. Through these mediums, we will examine the changing definitions of sexual respectability and sex work in different contexts, transsexuality and transgender identities, marriage, sexual revolutions and gender conflict, state regulation of sexuality, love for nation, and love in exile. This course will be taught entirely in Arabic.

The Environmental Middle East: Forests, Rivers, and Peoples In this course we will examine the environmental history of the Middle East and contemporary conservation practices in this region, focusing on four environmental case-studies: a contemporary conservation project in Lebanon, the Ghuta Forest of Damascus, the GAP dam project in Syria, and the marshes of Southern Iraq. We will consider these sites of contested power relations, cultural practice, and memory through the lenses of political and environmental essays, academic critiques, policy papers, historical documents, current media, and literary works. The objectives of this course: to provide students with a solid grasp of contemporary Middle Eastern environmental history, to address the key elements of cultural practice in each geographic area, and to achieve advanced proficiency in Arabic, including a mastery of environmental terminology.

Art and Youth Activism in 21st-Century North Africa This course will explore youth involvement in social change through the lens of art and youth studies. It focuses on how youth have used art as a means of activism toward change both before and after the ‘Arab Spring’ in in Morocco and the wider MENA region. The course explores the circumstances under which such youth-based and youth-led activism emerges as well as the role of globalization and technology in the formation, development, and political trajectory of this cultural form of resistance. At the same time, the course examines how youth and activists conceive of social justice and social change.

Dima Ayoub

Jamal Bahmad

Karima Bouchafra

Kerstin Wilsch

Maryait Khader

Robert Greeley

Rula AlHindi

Samuel Liebhaber

Usama Soltan

Read 90 reviews for Arabic courses at Middlebury College. Find the best Arabic professors and courses.  Discover your new major today!

Professor Ayoub was a cool professor but she gave a lot of readings. Multiple readings for the week. She would give pop reading quizzes at times at the beginning of class. If you read the reading properly, you would be fine. There is a final presentation with your pod and pair/individual creative project in the end. 

It is always a pleasure to have Professor Ayoub as a professor. She might assign a little bit of reading, but I found all the readings to be quite enjoyable. The final project is open-ended. There are in-class quizzes but if you do the readings, you will be fine. 

Sam is a great professor and makes the classroom environment very relaxing, especially to help with confidence and understanding. I really enjoy everything he knows about Yemen and the poetry he brings to class. As long as you put in the effort and do the homework you will do fine in this class. 