WMU would benefit from addition of Arabic major

By Hassan Al-Momani
Western Herald

Arabic has become one of the important international languages taught at American universities. This is due to the strong relationships between America and Arab countries, the economic investment between the American and Arab companies, and the existence of Arab American communities who want to learn Arabic.

Because of this, many American universities have been motivated a lot to establish Arabic departments on their campuses in order to enrich the American markets with graduates fluent in Arabic who can play a great role in supporting the American economic sector.

Western Michigan University’s administration has recognized the importance of the Arabic language in the job market by establishing a minor in Arabic.

However, this is not enough to provide American students who want to specialize in Arabic because there are only a few number of courses offered to them. The students need to have a major in Arabic in order to be competitive with other college students.

Establishing a major in Arabic would be economically beneficial for our university. WMU has established many agreements with Arab universities, such as the Alexandria University in Egypt, Tafila Technical University in Jordan, and some universities in Saudi Arabia. These universities might be helpful in supporting a major in Arabic.

Also, the Arab job market is open for the American students of Arabic. It is easy to find a job in the Gulf countries for Arabic-speaking students, especially in Dubai, Qatar, and Kuwait.

In conjunction with an Arab minor, the prospective department of Arabic could establish strong cultural ties between the two cultures by creating an Arab American studies center, which could conduct cultural and literary studies between America and Arab countries.

WMU also has one of the most distinguished professors of Arabic at an American university, professor Mustafa Mughazy. Mughazy, the president of the American Association for Teachers of Arabic, could help establish an Arabic program that would gain prestige for the university. His books and knowledge of Arabic are taught in many Arabic departments within the United States and his ambition in teaching Arabic is unlimited.

Additionally, some students in other departments of the university might join Arabic courses in order to conduct interdisciplinary studies. For example, the students of the political science department might find it fruitful to study some Arabic courses in order to study the political situation of the Middle East.

There is a great need for more Arabic studies at WMU, which should be a strong motivation for our university to establish a major or a graduate program in Arabic studies.

Hassan Al-Momani, a Western Herald opinion columnist, is a graduate student majoring in English and can be reached via e-mail at hassan76us@yahoo.com.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=12662

Posted by heraldstaff on Nov 29 2009. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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