Students working toward minors in Arabic Studies will have fewer ways to meet their requirements next semester after University administrators canceled two upper-level Arabic courses.
ARAB 226, "Topics in Arabic Prose" and ARAB 584, "Conversational Arabic" will not be offered since Prof. Mohammed Sawaie will be on leave.
When a faculty member is on leave, only the most important classes in a department are still offered, said Richard Sundberg, associate dean of administration for the College. College officials had to choose, which courses could be eliminated.
Sundberg said two upper-level classes, "Readings in Arabic Literature," listed as ARAB 301 and ARAB 502, were identified as essential courses. They will be taught "by the existing instructor doing an overload," he said.
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However, some students are upset an interim professor was not hired to keep all courses in place.
"The Arabic Department is understaffed and underfunded, especially considering it is the fastest growing department," in the Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Department, said Arab Student Organization President Laila Kassis. She added that between 60 and 70 students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds enroll in Arabic 101 each year.
Sundberg said an effort was made to see if there was a way to offer more upper-level classes but it proved impossible.
Kassis, however, said she knew a qualified Arabic Studies teaching assistant who was willing to teach upper-level classes at the University but he was not offered a position.
Taught together, ARAB 301 and 502 each have enrollments of approximately six students. ARAB 584 also would have consisted of about six students, Sundberg said.
The decision not to offer ARAB 584 was announced about two weeks ago. The cancellation of ARAB 226 was made by mutual agreement between the University administration and the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures and Languages.
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