Spring

This course is a comprehensive examination of the grammar, vocabulary, and orthographic styles of the nonliterary vernacular of New Kingdom Egypt (Dynasties XVII to XXIV), as exhibited by administrative and business documents, private letters, and official monuments. We also study the hybrid "literary Late Egyptian" used for tales and other compositions. Texts from the various genres are read and analyzed in EGPT 20211.

This course features readings in a variety of genres, including historical, literary, and scientific texts.

This three-quarter sequence focuses on the acquisition of speaking, listening, reading and basic writing skills in modern formal and spoken Armenian. The course utilizes the most advanced computer technology and audio-visual aids enabling students to master a core vocabulary, the alphabet and the basic grammatical structures to communicate their basic needs in Armenian, understand simple texts and to achieve a minimal level of proficiency in modern formal and spoken Armenian. A considerable amount of historical-political
and social-cultural issues about Armenia are skillfully built into the course for students who have intention to conduct research in Armenian Studies or related fields, or to pursue work in Armenia. A language competency exam is offered at the end of spring quarter for those taking this course as college language requirement.

The purpose of this three-quarter sequence is to enable the student to read Syriac literature with a high degree of comprehension. The course is divided into two segments. The first two quarters are devoted to acquiring the essentials of Syriac grammar and vocabulary. The third quarter is spent reading a variety of Syriac prose and poetic texts and includes a review of grammar.

The course explores the role of eschatological and apocalyptic ideas in the inception and early history of the Islamic community, through readings of relevant Arabic sources from the seventh through ninth centuries CE, and modern scholarship exploring these issues.

This two-quarter sequence is an introduction to the classical Arabic language. It is useful for students whose research includes the reading of classical Arabic texts in varied fields such as literature, history, political science, theology and philosophy. In the class 1) rules of Arabic grammar are studied intensively, topic by topic; 2) parsing (i'rab) is an important component, with a view to understanding the structure of the language; 3) brief texts from different fields of classical Arabic are read focusing on their grammatical structure, and 4) some theory about the development of the grammatical genre is introduced, as are the basic features of prosody ('arud) and rhetoric (balagha).

Media Arabic is a course designed for the advanced student of Modern Standard Arabic. The course objective is to improve students' listening comprehension and writing skills. Students will advance toward this goal through listening to and reading a variety of authentic materials from Arabic Media (on politics, literature, economics, education, women, youth, etc.).

This is a three-segment course offered in three quarters; Autumn, Winter and Spring. The main objective of the complete three segment is to develop strong pedagogical strategies in the four Arabic language skills to acquire proficiency in handling Arabic classical texts. By the end of the three quarters students should  know the distinctive features of classical Arabic texts and the various genres and sources of such texts. They will build strong command on expanded grammatical features and structural rules governing classical texts of different variations. Students will be able to produce written documents reflecting reading comprehension, personal opinions and text critique. Students should be able to make oral presentation and conduct research using electronic resources as well as traditional classical sources. The class is conducted entirely in Arabic with occasional use of English in translation and explanation of complex cultural and linguistic issues.

This is a course for the rising advanced student of Arabic, focusing mostly on one well-known novel. In addition to a close reading of the work, students will lead discussions, give presentations, and engage with guest speakers around the cultural, historical and literary aspects of the work.

In this intermediate Arabic course, we will work through the second half of Al-Kitaab Part 2. As in any language course, we address all four of the fundamental skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. A particular focus of this sequence, however, is ensuring that students have a solid, comprehensive understanding of the rules of Arabic syntax. In addition to readings and exercises from the textbook, we will increasingly make use of articles from Arabic-language news media.