Arabic & Islamic Studies

Arabic MA

For full program details, please see the Graduate Handbook.


The Master’s program in Arabic provides a foundation in both Arabic literature and Arabic linguistics, with Linguistics or Islamic studies as possible minors.

Applicants must have at least three years of Arabic and are expected to enroll in advanced Arabic seminars. Arabic language courses taken to enable students to reach the seminar level do not count towards the degree credits. Advanced proficiency in Arabic is demonstrated through enrolling in advanced Arabic seminars and passing a proficiency test in Arabic administered by the department and testing listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing.


Master’s Degree Course Requirements:

 

Candidates for the Master’s degree in Arabic take a program of 36 credits (12 courses) plus a research paper. The distribution of the courses is 7 in the major and 5 in the minor.  The minor may be in Linguistics or in Islamic Studies. Students are required to take at least ARAB 392, ARAB 547, and ARAB 555.

Arabic Core Courses  (7 three-credit courses)

 


Minor Subjects

 

A. Islamic Studies (5 three-credit courses)

 


ARAB-444 or its equivalent must be taken as the “gateway” course to the minor in Islamic studies. In addition to the courses offered in the Department of Arabic, a range of courses in Islamic studies are offered in the Department of History, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, and the Theology Department. With departmental approval, some of these courses may count towards the minor in Islamic Studies. A partial list of these courses is included under the Islamic Studies PhD program.

 

NB:  Islamic studies courses may count toward the major if they are based on and require study of texts in Arabic.  If, however, they are conducted in English and assignments are in English, they may not count toward the Arabic major.

 

 

B. Linguistics   (5 three-credit courses) 

The linguistics course requirements may be satisfied by taking courses in Arabic linguistics or by taking courses in the Linguistics department, or a combination of both.          

 

Courses in Arabic Linguistics offered by the department include:

 


Linguistics Department courses cover a wide range of subfields including theoretical linguistics, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and computational linguistics.  Students are encouraged to specialize in one field for the minor.  Applied linguistics is recommended for those interested in the methodology of language teaching and second language acquisition; theoretical linguistics is recommended for those interested in phonology, morphology, syntax and semantic theory; for those interested in language variation, dialectology intercultural communication, and discourse analysis, sociolinguistics is recommended; for those interested in computer applications of Arabic linguistics, computational linguistics.  Consult with the graduate adviser to determine the most suitable courses for your interests.  Please consult the Linguistics department course offerings online. 

Arabic Proficiency Exam

 


 

Masters candidates who are not native speakers of Arabic must pass a written and oral proficiency examination in Arabic.  This exam may be taken at any point during the student’s program, but must be completed before the student takes the comprehensive examination.

Time-to-Degree

 


 

In accordance with Graduate School rules, students admitted to the Master’s Degree program are allowed three years from matriculation to complete all requirements for the degree and to graduate.  In the case of students who are studying part-time for the Master’s Degree, a five-year limit is imposed.

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