Courses - Fall 2026
ARAB101
Elementary Arabic I
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Introduction to modern standard Arabic in both its spoken and written form. Equal emphasis on all four skill areas: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
ARAB102
Elementary Arabic II
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ARAB101; or must have appropriate World Language Placement (WLP) score.
Continuation of ARAB101. Introduction to both spoken and written Arabic. Equal emphasis on all four skill areas: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
ARAB201
Intermediate Arabic I
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ARAB102; or must have appropriate World Language Placement (WLP) score.
The study of Arabic in both its spoken and written forms at the intermediate level. Course will continue to develop all four skills of language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
ARAB208L
Colloquial Arabic and Popular Culture; The Levant
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ARAB102; or must have appropriate World Language Placement (WLP) score.
Offers an immersive introduction to spoken Levantine/Shami Arabic through popular culture. Students will develop practical communication skills in a regional colloquial variety of Arabic while engaging with everyday language use. In addition to language acquisition, the course explores cultural traditions, daily life, holidays and celebrations, as well as broader cultural and social issues reflected in popular media. Emphasis is placed on authentic materials and culturally embedded speechpractices, including idiomatic expressions, proverbs, register shifts, gestures and nonverbal communication, and socially appropriate language and behaviors. Regional focus varies by semester.
Offers an immersive introduction to spoken Levantine/Shami Arabic through popular culture. Students will develop practical communication skills in a regional colloquial variety of Arabic while engaging with everyday language use. In addition to language acquisition, the course explores cultural traditions, daily life, holidays and celebrations, as well as broader cultural and social issues reflected in popular media. Emphasis is placed on authentic materials and culturally embedded speechpractices, including idiomatic expressions, proverbs, register shifts, gestures and nonverbal communication, and socially appropriate language and behaviors. Regional focus varies by semester.
ARAB225
Roots and Patterns: Verb Meaning in Arabic
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ARAB102; or must have appropriate World Language Placement (WLP) score.
Credit only granted for: ARAB499K or ARAB225.
Formerly: ARAB499K.
Additional information: No prior linguistic training is required, but an interest in language and linguistics is assumed.
Examines the templatic morphology of the Arabic verb system, and asks what the workings of such a system tell us about the way that humans construct and encode meaning. Moves beyond the traditional labels that are used to name the different categories of Arabic verb, to explore the conceptual structures that are coded linguistically by the various verb patterns.
ARAB301
Arab Culture and Society: Skills and Topics I
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ARAB202; or must have appropriate World Language Placement (WLP) score.
Discussion of factors that drive migration from and across Arab societies, including structures of economic and social marginalization and experiences within Arab diaspora communities. Continued study of Arabic in both its spoken and written forms and study of daily life in Arabic-speaking societies. Listening, speaking, reading and writing are emphasized through engagement with increasingly advanced authentic materials.
ARAB321
Arabic Media
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ARAB305; or permission of instructor.
Examines the role of the Arabic media in shaping public opinion and influencing relations between the Arab world and the non-Arab world. Focus on content and acquistion of Modern Standard Arabic. Taught in Arabic.
ARAB322
Arabic for Daily Life II
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: ARAB202; or equivalent, or must have appropriate World Language Placement (WLP) score.
Develops students' speaking and listening abilities in both formal Arabic and a dialect, aiming to bring them to the advanced low level in speaking. Focus on activating vocabulary and grammar structures, speaking at the paragraph level, self-correction, and using both formal and informal registers of Arabic.
ARAB386
Experiential Learning
Credits:
3 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of ARHU-School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures department.
Pre-professional experience in research, analysis and writing in a work setting. Project proposal approved by faculty and internship sponsor. Junior standing.
ARAB398A
Special Topics in Arabic Studies; The Language of the Quran and Hadith I
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Credit only granted for ARAB398A or ARAB399E. Develops understanding of the language of Quran and Hadith through reading skills, discussion of content, and recitation practice.
ARAB398M
Special Topics in Arabic Studies; Making of Middle Eastern Identities
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with HIST319Y. Credit only granted for ARAB398M or HIST319Y.
Explores changing ideas of ethnicity, identity, and heritage between Arabs and other communities in the Middle East from the rise of Islam tothe present, with an emphasis on ethnic and religious minorities. Taughtin English.
Explores changing ideas of ethnicity, identity, and heritage between Arabs and other communities in the Middle East from the rise of Islam tothe present, with an emphasis on ethnic and religious minorities. Taughtin English.
ARAB399
Independent Study In Arabic
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
ARAB499O
Special Topics in Arabic Studies; Beyond the Arabian Nights: Popular Culture in Middle Eastern History
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with HIST429I. Credit only granted for ARAB499O or HIST429I.
Explores storytelling, theater, epics, poetry, and other aspects of popular culture in the Middle East from the rise of Islam to today. Students will examine the connections between cultural production, social class, literacy, religion, and ethnicity in the Arabic-speaking world and will study the communicative and creative modes that people have used to entertain, educate, and preserve their history.
Explores storytelling, theater, epics, poetry, and other aspects of popular culture in the Middle East from the rise of Islam to today. Students will examine the connections between cultural production, social class, literacy, religion, and ethnicity in the Arabic-speaking world and will study the communicative and creative modes that people have used to entertain, educate, and preserve their history.
Flagship Institution of the University System of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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