Major in Arabic Studies
The Arabic major requires completion of ten courses:
- Six courses in Modern Standard Arabic: ARAB 101, ARAB 102, ARAB 203, ARAB 204, ARAB 305, and ARAB 306.
- One course in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic: ARAB 310.
- One course numbered above 306 that is delivered primarily in Arabic.
- Two topics courses delivered in English or Arabic and listed under the ARAB rubric or approved by the Undergraduate Director. The specific topics for these courses are announced on a semester-by-semester basis. Examples include, but are not limited to the Postcolonial Arabic Novel, Race and Gender in Arab-American Literature, and Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the Quran.
Minor in Arabic Studies
The Arabic minor requires completion of ARAB 101, 102, 203, 204, one 300-level Modern Standard Arabic course, and one course listed under the ARAB rubric or approved by the Undergraduate Director. Two courses must be 300-level or above.
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What can I do with a degree in Arabic Studies?
Graduated majors or minors with demonstrated potential in Arabic are increasingly finding themselves in demand for careers in business, foreign service, academics, and defense, intelligence, and national security. This development applies to non-heritage as well as heritage learners. In fact, over 90% of students studying Arabic in Binghamton's Arabic Studies program are non-heritage speakers with absolutely no background in, or exposure to, Arabic language learning because of family roots.
Research activities and certificate programs in Middle East and North Africa Studies, Translation, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and International Studies may enhance the profile of students in the Arabic Studies program and make them better prepared for their projected career paths.Many students in fields as diverse as history, business, banking, economics, philosophy, pre-law, medicine, art history, comparative literature, political science, anthropology, Africana studies, and Judaic studies find that courses offered by the Arabic Studies program are a valuable addition to their studies, whether they or majors or minors in the program or simply taking program courses for general enrichment.
The Arabic Studies program has successfully placed majors in one or another defense-, security-, or intelligence-related agency in Washington, DC, and in leading graduate schools (e.g., Michigan University, Georgetown University, Hofstra University, the University of Connecticut, and the American University in Cairo). It has also produced close to a dozen Rosefsky Scholarship winners at Binghamton (for the study of Arabic abroad), and, most recently, two winners of the prestigious National Security Education Program (NSEP) Scholarship for the study of Arabic abroad.
Omid Ghaemmaghami
Associate Professor/Undergraduate Director - Middle East Studies
Middle Eastern and Ancient Mediterranean Studies