Courses
Arabic Course Descriptions
ARB 0001 Elementary Modern Standard Arabic
Introduction to Modern Standard Arabic. Pronunciation,
script, basic grammar, and reading skills. No previous knowledge of Arabic
language or script required.
ARB 0002 Elementary Modern Standard Arabic
Continuation of Elementary Modern Standard Arabic I.
Communicative approach through development of four language skills: reading,
writing, listening, and speaking. Prerequisites:
Arabic 1 or equivalent.
ARB 0003 Intermediate Standard Arabic
A continuation of Elementary Modern Standard Arabic. Arabic
grammar, reading and discussion of selected texts. Prerequisites:
Arabic 1, 2.
ARB 0004 Intermediate Standard Arabic II
A continuation of Elementary Modern Standard Arabic. Arabic
grammar, reading and discussion of selected texts. Prerequisites:
Arabic 1, 2.
ARB 0005 Colloquial Arabic: Levantine
Comprehensive introduction to the colloquial Arabic dialect of Levant
(Syria/Palestine and Lebanon). Vocabulary, listening comprehension skills,
cultural and social communication.
Prerequisite: ARB 2. May be taken concurrently with ARB 3.
ARB 0006 Colloquial Arabic: Egyptian
Comprehensive introduction to the colloquial Arabic dialect of Egypt,
specifically the Cairo dialect. Vocabulary, listening comprehension skills,
cultural and social communication.
Prerequisite: ARB 2. May be taken concurrently with ARB 4
ARB 0007 Advanced Colloquial Arabic: Levantine
Advanced studies of the colloquial Arabic dialect of Levant (Syria/Palestine
and Lebanon). Vocabulary, listening comprehension skills, cultural and social
communication.
Prerequisite: ARB 4 or ARB 5 or equivalent.
ARB 0021 Arabic Reading, Composition & Conversation
Emphasis on active control of grammar and vocabulary.
Intensive practice in reading, writing, speaking, and translating. Prerequisites:
Arabic 4 or equivalent.
ARB 0022 Arabic Reading, Composition & Conversation
Emphasis on active control of grammar and vocabulary.
Intensive practice in reading, writing, speaking, and translating.
Prerequisites: Arabic 4 or equivalent.
ARB 0051 Arabic Music Ensemble
Performance of both classical and folk Arabic music. The Maqam
micro-tonal scale system as applied to both Western and Arabic
instruments. Improvisation, form, style, rhythmic cycles, as well as
Arabic vocal diction. Some Arabic Ouds (lutes) to be made available.
Cross-listed as MUS 79.
ARB 0055/ILVS 55 Cultural History of the Modern Middle East
This lecture-based introductory survey course introduces students to
the major trends and developments in cultural activities (music,
cinema, literature and the fine arts) across the Arab world, Turkey,
Iran and Israel from the nineteenth century to the present day.
Following each of these fields of artistic expression, this course
presents a broad overview of how artists, writers, musicians and
others both influenced and reflected political and social changes in
their societies. Students will not only learn about the major
cultural figures of these societies, but also will come to
understand the history of the region in a rich and multifaceted way.
Themes examined will include: innovation and reform, political
resistance, revolutionary ideologies, the rural-urban divide,
transformations of gender roles, the rise of youth cultures, new
religious movements, and reactions to consumerism and globalization.
ARB 0057/ILVS 87 Arab and Middle Eastern Cinemas
This course presents an overview of the social role of cinema
the Arab world and the broader Middle East (Iran, Turkey, Israel,
etc), by presenting a historical perspective on the development and
expansion of cinema in these parts of the world, as well as by
presenting several thematic windows through which the relationship
of cinema to these societies is examined. (May be taken at 100-level.)
ARB 0062 Modern Arabic Literature
The Modern Arabic Literature course offers an introductory survey of
major Arabic literary works of the modern period: the short story,
the novel and poetry (with a look at other experimental forms). The
literature selected represents many of the major figures of Arabic
writing, from across the Arab world, spanning from the nineteenth
century through the present day. A variety of cultural and social
themes will be highlighted, including the way by which colonialism,
nationalism, gender, sexuality, and political resistance have been
reflected in Arabic literature. Readings will be supplemented with
secondary texts and lectures, so as to offer thematic frameworks
through which the literary readings will be discussed. In English.
AARB 0091 Special Topics
Selected topics in Arabic literature and culture. Conducted in
English. Recent offerings include Arab Culture Today, Love and Literature in
Islam: Human and Divine, War Memories: Arab Writing from 1975 to the Present,
and The Literary Qur'an. Please see departmental website for specific details.
ARB 0092 Special Topics
Selected topics in Arabic literature and culture. Conducted in
English. Recent offerings include Arab Culture Today, Love and Literature in
Islam: Human and Divine, War Memories: Arab Writing from 1975 to the Present,
and The Literary Qur'an. Please see departmental website for specific details.
ARB 0093 Directed Study: Language or Literature
Guided independent study of an approved topic. Please see
departmental website for specific details. Prerequisites:
Permission of instructor.
ARB 0094 Directed Study: Language or Literature
Guided independent study of an approved topic. Please see
departmental website for specific details. Prerequisites:
Permission of instructor.
ARB 0121 Advanced Modern Standard Arabic
Intensive practice in speaking, reading, writing and translating
Modern Standard Arabic. Focus on contemporary Arab culture through Arabic media.
Materials selected from newspapers, short fiction, films, TV programs and
advanced textbooks. Written and oral presentations. Prerequisites:
Arabic 22 or equivalent.
ARB 0122 Advanced Modern Standard Arabic
Intensive practice in speaking, reading, writing and translating
Modern Standard Arabic. Focus on contemporary Arab culture through Arabic media.
Materials selected from newspapers, short fiction, films, TV programs and
advanced textbooks. Written and oral presentations. Prerequisites:
Arabic 121 or equivalent.
ARB 0123/0124 Advanced Readings in Arabic Culture
For students with a good command of Arabic. Fiction, poetry, film, newspaper
articles, and journalistic essays. Course work includes careful preparation of
texts, intensive review of grammar, oral and written reports.
Prerequisite: ARB 122.
ARB 0130 Monsters in Literature and Film
Monsters embody collective cultural anxieties and fears, mark and
overstep the boundaries of social normativity, and offer narrative
and metaphorical avenues of literary and filmic revolt. Mermaids,
Frankenstein’s monsters, and Jinn as monsters that probe
rapidly-shifting artistic, political, and social realities. The
meaning of monstrosity engages the themes of modernity; war;
dictatorship; revolution; decolonization; Islamic and secular
feminisms; and questions of gender. The current resurgence of
monsters in contemporary cultural production raises questions of
queer body politics; literature of disability; and the meaning of
citizenship in an age of global migration. Literature and film as
parts of a transnational network, without sacrificing cultural
specificity. Cross-listed ILVS 130.
ARB 0131 The Fantastic in Arabic Literature and Film
Short stories, novels, and films that feature marvels, spells,
magical occurrences, moments of bodily flight, body-soul exchanges,
enchanted creatures, and fantastical transformations that disrupt
the rules of scientific reality. Connections from the supernatural
to political discourses such as the literary expression of
marginalized identities, the reimagination of postcolonial
ideologies, the construction of indigenous ecologies, and the
emergence of post-nationalisms in their local contexts. Cross-listed
as ILVS 131.
ARB 0155 Visualizing Colonialism (Cross-listed
as CST 0010, ILVS 101 and FMS 175). An overview of the intersection
between visual culture and the conditions of colonialism and
postcoloniality. Readings and viewings on representations of the
non-Western world in colonial-era painting and photography, leading
to an examination of the history of colonial cinema, and to later
postcolonial visualizations of the colonial period. The development
of cinemas of anti colonial resistance, and persisting effects of
colonialism and empire in contemporary global visual cultures,
including contemporary arts and new media. Materials drawn from a
variety of regional contexts, with special emphasis on the Arab
world. Secondary readings drawn from anti-colonial theorists and
postcolonial studies. In English.
ARB 0157 War and Cultural Memory in Literature and Cinema
of the Middle East
Formation of cultural memory and/or memorialization of socially
traumatic experiences such as war, viewed through literature and
cinema. May include focus on: the Algerian war of independence, the
Lebanese civil war, the Iran-Iraq war, the US-led invasion and
occupation of Iraq, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among
others. Primary texts from these conflicts along with secondary
texts on theories of social trauma and cultural memory. In English.
Cross-listed as FMS 178 and ILVS 157.
ARB 0191 Special Topics
Advanced courses taught in Arabic. Please see departmental
website for specific details.
ARB 0192 Special Topics
Advanced courses taught in Arabic. Please see departmental
website for specific details.
ARB 0193 Advanced Directed Study: Language or Literature
Guided independent study in Arabic literature and culture with
readings in Arabic Please see departmental website for specific details.
ARB 0194 Advanced Directed Study: Language or Literature
Guided independent study in Arabic literature and culture with
readings in Arabic. Please see departmental website for specific details.
ARB 0196 Arabic Teaching Internship
Arabic Teaching Internship. Please see departmental website for
specific details.
ARB 0198/0199 Arabic Honors Thesis
See Thesis Honors Program for details. Please see departmental website for
specific details.
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