The University has recently announced the addition of a new program in the field of Arabic language, set to begin next fall.
The Arabic program is the first part of the College of Arts and Sciences’ plan to add four new languages to the University’s curriculum. The other three are Portuguese, Korean and Swahili. The Arabic program will begin with three terms of first-year Arabic offered next year. The next year they’ll add second-year Arabic, and so on, until there will eventually be three years of Arabic language offered to University students.
“It’s a first step,” said Stephen Durrant, interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “These things take time.”
Durrant expressed his excitement for the new program and explained the drive behind the decision.
“We want to enable our students to be able to engage and understand another culture on the highest level,” he said.
The program will be put into place as a multi-year test to gauge the success of these new languages offered starting next fall.
At the end of that period, the success of the effort will be evaluated by the College of Arts and Sciences, College Dean Joe Stone wrote in an e-mail.
Stone, who also pushed for the addition of the Arabic program, said the goal with this first step is to open the door for other similar programs later.
“We hope that this approach will provide a model for the cultivation and expansion of foreign language instruction on campus,” he wrote.
Judith Baskin, head of the Department of Religious Studies, delivered news of the program during a lecture last month given as part of the department’s search for a new professor in the field of Islamic studies.
The University is part of the Oregon University System, which also includes six other universities in the state of Oregon. Of the seven, the University of Oregon and Portland State University offer the most expansive language programs to their students, offering more degree programs than any of the other institutions, according to the OUS Web site. The two schools are also the only ones that provide degrees in foreign languages, but the University of Oregon is the only institution in the state that currently offers a doctoral degree in any foreign language.
Durrant said the move is a positive step toward further expanding the opportunities for language studies at the University.
“It’s an ‘If you build it, they will come’ thing,” he said. “We’re trying to build it. Now I just hope the students come.”