Arabic program stifled

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Author: Haley Gray

Of every language taught at Occidental, Arabic may be the one with the most critical global significance. It’s the primary language of more than 20 countries and is widely spoken in 26 more, the language of the Qur’an and the native tongue of upwards of 225 million people. If Occidental truly is encouraging a global educational experience, the college needs to be committed to maintaining a competitive Arabic program.

The college claims it’s committed to fostering in its students a sense of global citizenship, which is why the college is investing ten million dollars on the new Johnson renovation – excuse me, the McKinnon Family Center. Meanwhile, the college won’t offer any Arabic classes if there aren’t enough students interested to justify it. And not enough students are interested because the entry-level class is only taught during the fall semester. But the college is still committed to global education – just wait until you see our big interactive map wall thing!

In the Mar. 6 issue of The Occidental Weekly, Lucy Feickert detailed the challenges facing our Arabic program: the college won’t offer any classes that don’t meet a certain enrollment threshold; the consortium program that used to afford students the opportunity to take advanced Arabic classes at the USC will no longer have them; and the Spanish and French Studies department, which houses the Arabic program, will under no circumstances give students credit for an advanced-level independent study.

Last year, about half of our puny 202 Arabic class graduated, a quarter remained on campus and a quarter went abroad for a semester. Upon our return from the Middle East, I was one of two Arabic students still interested in taking a class at the 300-level. I found myself experiencing the exact language program deficiencies that Feickert investigated in her news report.

Occidental has sent Arabic students a clear message: they’ll support our advanced Arabic classes so long as its convenient. When it doesn’t make financial sense, they are willing to watch the program crumble. Should this really be happening at Occidental? Probably not.

If Occidental really wanted to show commitment to global education, the college would do so by investing in foreign language programs. Low enrollment should be a sign that something must be done to stir up more enthusiasm. The college could bring more speakers like Bassam Frangieh, who came twice last year to talk about Arabic poetry and the importance of studying the Arabic language. It could allocate more attention to lower-level courses in hopes that students will reach upper-division courses. The college could offer an Arabic conversation hour, as is offered for French and Spanish. Finally, and most importantly, the department could address the quality of beginning Arabic professors by finding a consistent, entry-level professor.

There is more student interest in Arabic than there is support from the college for them. Arabic is a difficult, time-consuming language. It demands excellent, highly-committed professors like Professor Elsayed, the heart and soul of the current Arabic program.

Occidental students have the potential to help propel a flourishing, successful Arabic program. As of right now, aspiring Arabic students don’t have the institutional support to reach proficiency fitting of a competitive, international relations student.

Haley Gray is a junior DWA major. She can be reached at grayh@oxy.edu.

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