Arabic Lang Policies/Politics

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course examines how language policy in the Arab world is produced, contested, and implemented, and how it shapes access to education, political participation, economic opportunity, and cultural authority. Taught in Arabic, the course situates contemporary debates about Standard Arabic, colloquial varieties, minority languages, and global languages (especially English and French) within the longer histories of colonialism, state-building, nationalism, and globalization. Students analyze case studies from across the Middle East and North Africa, evaluate policy rationales and their unintended consequences, and develop evidence-based proposals for equitable and strategically coherent language planning (including questions of linguistic rights, schooling, and language in higher education). Readings include Arabic and English scholarship; all course work is completed in Arabic.