Spoken Egyptian Arabic (ARB 149) 3 credits - 3 hours
The goal of this course is to teach students oral communication in the Egyptian dialect, as well as to impart cultural knowledge relevant to a student living in or visiting Egypt.  This course is closed to native speakers of Arabic. 

Since we are now integrating spoken Arabic into all of our language classes, we are no longer offering this course at Hunter.  That said, if a student takes a spoken Arabic class abroad and wants to transfer the credits to Hunter we can give him or her credit for this course.  

Culture Courses

(No knowledge of Arabic or any other foreign language is required for these courses.)

Topics in Arabic Literature and Culture (ARB 200) 3 credits -- 3 hours (Ali, Elinson, Stone, Staff)
Recent examples of ARB 200 courses that have been offered:

• Palestinian Culture
• The Quran in Translation

Advanced Topics in Arabic Literature and Culture (ARB 300) 3 credits -- 3 hours
This course will generally focus in on the works of one artist, sub-genre, country, or text. This course is designed for students who have taken at least one course in Middle East studies and who are ready to move from a survey type culture course to a more focused series of texts, such at The Arabian Nights, the novels of Naguib Mahfouz, or depictions of Cairo or Baghdad in artistic texts. (Ali, Elinson, Stone, Staff) 

The Arab Novel in Translation (ARB 250W) 3 credits -- 3 hours
This course explores the relationship between the development of the Arab novel and the challenges faced by the Arab World in the twentieth century.  The Arab novel is a rich site to explore how writers in the region have grappled with issues such as urbanization, war, imperialism, nationalism, gender, and the politics of translation.  We will explore these questions through the reading of novels by writers such as Sonallah Ibrahim (Egypt), Ghassan Kanafani (Palestine), Hanan al-Shaykh (Lebanon), al-Tayyib Salih (The Sudan), Assia Djebar (Algeria) and others. In addition to novels, we will read a variety of secondary texts and watch at least one feature film from the region. All readings are in English. Format: discussion with some lecturing. The final grade will be based on class participation, short weekly reaction papers, a final presentation and a final paper of 10 to 12 pages. (Elinson, Stone, Staff)

Prerequisite: English 120
Writing Intensive Course
Fulfills GER Core Requirement Stage 2, Group C and the Pluralism and Diversity Group A requirement.

Arab Cinema in Translation (ARB 251) 3 credits -- 3 hours
It is a little-known fact that the third most productive film industry in the world resides in Egypt. Important cinematic cultures have also developed in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Many see the origins of Arab cinema as coinciding with the struggle for national independence and as such Arab cinema has often been viewed through the lens of colonialism and post-colonialism. The course will focus on this and other aspects of Arab cinema such as aesthetics, the role of melodrama, the importance of music and dance, the phenomenon of co-production with western countries and the treatment of gender and sexuality. We will watch black and white classics from Egypt such as Determination, The Flirtation of Girls, The Beginning and the End. We will also watch more recent films from Egypt and the rest of the Arab World such as Terror and Barbeque (Egypt), The Silence of the Palaces (Tunisia) and The Dupes (Syria). Students will have to write several film reviews throughout the semester, write a final paper and do a short presentation based on their final paper topic. (Stone, Staff)

Fulfills Pluralism and Diversity Group A and GER Core Requirement Stage 2, Group D.

Literatures from the Islamic World (ARB 252W) 3 credits -- 3 hours
Study of a wide range of literary genres and themes from a place usually defined as the Islamic world. The texts we will be engaging with are part of the Arabo-Islamic tradition, but are limited neither to the Arabic language nor the Muslim religion. We will be reading, in English translation, texts originally written in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and other languages. One of the main goals of the course is to understand the wide array of influences making up the remarkably rich and diverse cultures of the Middle East. The course will cover the time period beginning with the pre-Islamic period (6th century C.E.) to the 15th century. (Elinson, Staff)

Prerequisite: English 120
Writing Intensive Course
Fulfills GER Core Requirement Stage 2, Group C and the Pluralism and Diversty Group A Requirement.

The Literature and Culture of Muslim Spain (ARB 253W) 3 credits - 3 hours
For a period of eight centuries (711-1492), Muslims ruled over various parts of Spain - a place and culture often viewed as a bridge between the Muslim Middle East and North Africa, Mediterranean and European Jewry, and Christian Europe. In this course we will examine the character of Muslim Spain which was a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society where different communities lived together sometimes peacefully, other times less so. Over the course of the semester, we will read and discuss important examples of Arabic, Hebrew, and Latinate literary culture and show how these cultures affected and influenced each other. Through readings of key literary, historical, religious, and philosophical texts, we will look at how these cultures interacted and affected one another, and how Muslim Spain has come to occupy an important place in the imaginations of contemporary Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Students will have regular writing assignments throughout the semester, a mid-term exam, a final paper, and final presentation based on their final paper topic. (Elinson, Staff)

Prerequisite: English 120
Writing Intensive Course
Fulfills Pluralism & Diversity Group A and and GER Core Requirement Stage 2, Group C.