Have questions about Arabic courses, placement tests, or study abroad? Email Arabic Language Coordinator, Salima Slimane (sslimane@bu.edu)
The Arabic Program at Boston University offers courses in Modern Standard Arabic from the beginning sequence (LY111-LY303) up to advanced courses that use a vast array of authentic sources from the Arab world (novels and poems, films, songs, blogs, advertisements, etc.). Advanced topic courses include E-Traveling the Middle East, Hip-Hop Music and Cartoons, Arab World Media and Translation in addition to Arabic Literature. Arabic is known by its numerous dialects that are used in parallel with the Standard Arabic. The Arabic program offers two courses in Levantine Colloquial Arabic to equip the students with the communicative skills to handle daily life tasks and interact smoothly with native speakers. The program offers a Minor (6 courses) in Arabic and Literature where the students would enhance their linguistic skills in Arabic and develop more cultural competence.
Arabic speakers are in high demand. The U.S. States Department has named Arabic “a critical language,” creating scholarships for language study in the U.S. and overseas. Practical and curious about the world, BU students feel that knowing Arabic will give them a career edge in such fields as diplomacy, intelligence, business, engineering, international development, and academia.
A complete list of Arabic language, literature and culture courses is available on the CAS Bulletin or on our all courses page.
While there is no freestanding Arabic major, students are encouraged to build a major around their Arabic language studies through Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures or the Pardee School’s MENA Studies. Learn more about student experiences in these programs and classes at the link here, or at the video below