Curriculum

The curriculum of the Arabic Program is comprised of language and humanities courses which take a holistic approach to educating midshipmen not only about the Arabic language, but also the history, political intricacies, diversified demographics, and various cultural nuances of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Arab World. As an academic program which augments the core curriculum taken by every midshipman at the Naval Academy, the Arabic Program offers three flexible options to midshipmen so that they can learn about the subject matter according to their personal goals and needs, as represented by the Arabic Major, the Arabic Minor, and language requirements for other majors. Whereas the Major offers midshipmen the opportunity to focus the efforts of their academic studies entirely on the subject matter of Arabic and dive deeply into the world it encompasses, the Minor offers students the possibility of learning about the Arabic language while pursuing an entirely different academic major.

The core of the curriculum for the Arabic Major is centered upon the teaching of the Arabic language, beginning with a mastery of the Arabic alphabet and an introduction to the basic vocabulary and grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (fuṣḤa). As students become more proficient in the Arabic language, they begin to develop a familiarity with authentic text and media, and start to effectively comprehend articles, stories, and news in the Arabic Language. Students develop the core linguistic skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, as well as cultural awareness. The curriculum enables students to further their study of the Arabic language by taking courses in a regional dialect (’ammiyya) of their choosing, or other advanced Arabic courses. A list of the titles and descriptions for the various Arabic Language courses available within the department can be seen on the Course Descriptions page. Midshipmen are also able to select from a variety of courses within the Political Science and History departments to learn more about the history and culture of the region. Finally, the curriculum is designed in such a way as to encourage and facilitate the desire of students to seek immersion and study abroad in an Arabic speaking country during either a summer training or academic semester.