Advanced Arabic Media

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

The purpose of this course is to give students who have passed the Arabic proficiency exam another opportunity to further develop their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. The focus will be on current issues in Arab society and politics featured in the Arab media and social network sites. The materials to be tapped will be primary and secondary, most of which will not be translated, such as film clips, articles, opinion pieces, interviews, statements, government and non-government reports, editorials, blogs, songs, slogans, posters and graffiti. One key feature of the course will be individual or group class presentations and their discussions. It is also the objective of the course that by the end of the semester, students will reach the Superior level rating on the ACTFL scale, i.e. “they can support opinions, hypothesize, discuss topics concretely and abstractly, and handle a linguistically unfamiliar situation”; that their vocabulary will be enriched, their debating skills enhanced.