2008 Woodie Awards
USM professor working to start Arabic courses
Zoe Beckham
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: News
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Outside of the 23 countries that claim it as their primary language, the global population as a whole is increasingly realizing the importance of knowing and working with Arabic, and many people at USM feel that it is time that the university began teaching the incredibly rich and difficult language to interested students.
Few universities offer basic instruction in Arabic, much less programs or majors.
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., is the only university in this area that offers any sort of Arabic program on campus. Others rely upon non-traditional methods of teaching the language. For example, Mississippi Valley State University offer classes with streaming video instruction from California, and the University of Alabama has a self-taught program.
Mark Wagner, assistant professor of religion at USM, views proficiency in Arabic as an increasingly important skill for ambitious students.
"It's a very marketable skill seeing as we are involved in the Middle East on so many levels," said Wagner.
A large portion of international business is focused on the Middle East, and there is an extreme shortage of people properly trained to act efficiently as either translators or business associates. The same is true in areas of diplomacy with the Middle East, Wagner said.
"[The United States] has been and will very likely continue to be very intimately involved in the Middle East," he said.
Though Wagner admits the language is incredibly difficult to absorb with the alphabet alone taking up to a full month the grasp, he stresses that, in certain fields, any skill with Arabic, "really lends credibility to the broader education of the student and exhibits a more well-rounded education as well."
Arabic is a skill that cannot easily be picked up, yet, taking four years to reach adequate proficiency is not something that has been detrimental to the call for Arabic education. Wagner said that since the first Gulf War, and especially subsequent to 9/11, government funding for the language has increased and more universities have begun adding Arabic courses.
Few universities offer basic instruction in Arabic, much less programs or majors.
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., is the only university in this area that offers any sort of Arabic program on campus. Others rely upon non-traditional methods of teaching the language. For example, Mississippi Valley State University offer classes with streaming video instruction from California, and the University of Alabama has a self-taught program.
Mark Wagner, assistant professor of religion at USM, views proficiency in Arabic as an increasingly important skill for ambitious students.
"It's a very marketable skill seeing as we are involved in the Middle East on so many levels," said Wagner.
A large portion of international business is focused on the Middle East, and there is an extreme shortage of people properly trained to act efficiently as either translators or business associates. The same is true in areas of diplomacy with the Middle East, Wagner said.
"[The United States] has been and will very likely continue to be very intimately involved in the Middle East," he said.
Though Wagner admits the language is incredibly difficult to absorb with the alphabet alone taking up to a full month the grasp, he stresses that, in certain fields, any skill with Arabic, "really lends credibility to the broader education of the student and exhibits a more well-rounded education as well."
Arabic is a skill that cannot easily be picked up, yet, taking four years to reach adequate proficiency is not something that has been detrimental to the call for Arabic education. Wagner said that since the first Gulf War, and especially subsequent to 9/11, government funding for the language has increased and more universities have begun adding Arabic courses.
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