Arabic is the language of approximately more than a billion Muslims throughout the world as the official language of their prayers and Quran recitation. However, it is spoken in different dialects by Arabs in more than 22 countries in the Arab World and in Diaspora. In total, Arabic is spoken by 422 million speakers, making it one of the five most spoken languages in the world.
The Holy Quran, which is recited daily by more than a billion Muslims was revealed in Classical Arabic, which was the Qurayshi dialect that was being used in everyday life by the Arab tribes during the first centuries of the Islamic Caliphate. Today, Modern Standard Arabic has replaced the Classical Arabic in everyday use especially in education, teaching, media, official speeches and communication.
The Department of Arabic Language and Literature is offering two concentrations -- one emphasizing the Arabic language, the other emphasizing literature in Arabic -- the Arabic major focuses principally on the three main periods of Arab/Islamic culture: the medieval or classical; the neo-classical; and the modern eras. Students will acquire theoretical and historical knowledge regarding the language's development and its literary evolution. Students will become familiar with critiques written in more recent times that shed new light on major classical and contemporary issues.
