Cooking Club: Cooking Through the Arab World
In this multi-sensory class, students will develop their skills in the Arabic
language through cooking a variety of Arabic dishes. The kitchen is a place
where a high level of communication is necessary, and the vocabulary and
structures used are linguistically rich. This class will focus on Colloquial
Moroccan Arabic through learning and cooking recipes popular in the
Maghribian region and beyond. With theoretical and practical components,
students will focus on both language forms and task-based language use.
Moreover, it is a fun chance to get in the kitchen, learn about culinary culture
firsthand and savor tasty food!
Music Club: The History of Arabic Music
This highly interactive course sheds light on the history of Arabic music from
the pre-Islamic period through contemporary music, with a focus on the most
important musicians both old and new. It will develop students’ knowledge of
Arabic musical conventions and ability to understand song lyrics in both
formal and colloquial Arabic, while encouraging students to express their
opinions on Arabic music and to compare and contrast with other musical
traditions. As a language course, students will expand their abilities in the
productive skills of speaking and writing and will focus on extensive listening
practice.
Modern Arabic Literature Club:
This course is a broad survey of Arabic literature in the 20th century, which
targets Intermediate-High and Advanced students of Arabic, hence all texts
will be in their original Arabic. We will read a selection of short stories,
essays, and poems by celebrated writers and poets from Morocco, Syria,
Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Egypt. Writings cover a range of
topics from love, spirituality, and freedom to socio-political issues, feminism,
and life under occupation/oppression. One of the goals of the course,
therefore, is to explore the political nature of literature, as well as the cultural
and historical contexts in which literary production takes place. We will read
works by authors such as Sahar Khalifeh, Ghassan Kanafani, Khalil Qandil,
Ghada al-Samman, Zakaria Tamer, Qassim Haddad, Mikha'il Na'ima, Tawfiq
al-Hakim, and Adunis, among others.
Arabic for the Workplace
This practical class will focus on developing skills in Arabic specific to the
workplace, targeting students at the Intermediate-High and Advanced levels.
It covers a wide variety of authentic materials, including business
correspondences, contracts, formal reports, and other documents relevant to
interacting in a functional workplace. Additionally, this course helps expand
students’ knowledge of common business and professional practices in the
region. Coursework covers all four linguistic skills-reading, writing, speaking
and listening–to prepare students to communicate effectively in different work
settings and actively participate in formal discussions.
