Course Requirements

Course Requirements

A.B. Requirements for Arabic Majors

Minimum 120 credit hours
Minimum 38 courses

Note: Effective Fall 2023, all main campus courses have been renumbered using a new 4-digit numbering system.

https://schedule.georgetown.edu/course-renumbering-crosswalk/a/#arab

11 courses (unless lower placement requires additional language work) consisting of:

  • ARAB-111 Intensive Second Level Modern Standard Arabic I
  • ARAB-112 Intensive Second Level Modern Standard Arabic II
  • ARAB-201 Introduction to Islamic Civilization (must be taken no later than Sophomore year); or upperclass students who have not taken ARAB-201 can satisfy this requirement by taking an advanced course, ARAB-303 Topics in Arabic Islamic Civilization
  • ARAB-215 Intensive Third Level Modern Standard Arabic I
  • ARAB-216 Intensive Third Level Modern Standard Arabic II or ARAB-217 Non-Intensive Third Level Modern Standard Arabic II
  • ARAB-350 Arabic Capstone Seminar
  • 5 ARAB content courses (electives) approved by advisor at the appropriate level. ARAB-218/219 Arabic Media, ARAB-328 Business Arabic, and ARAB-414 Advanced Arabic Media do not count towards elective courses.

Additionally, all majors are required to take:

  • A course in Spoken Arabic (taken during study-abroad semester)
  • Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)

Language courses cannot be taken out of sequence, i.e. a 200-level course cannot be taken after completing a 300-level course. 

Students who place out of required courses can fulfill the course requirement by taking upper-level courses in the department. Please speak with your advisor for more information.

Free Electives: 12-16 credits

Including minor and/or second major.
It is highly recommended for those pursing a second major to contact the appropriate department as early as possible in your academic career.

Integrated Writing Requirement

Writing is an integral part of the curriculum and embedded into our courses. Students practice writing of increasing complexity in the target language all through the sequence of required courses across the four-year
undergraduate major.

The following courses fulfill the Integrated Writing Requirement.

  • ARAB 201 – Intro to Islamic Civilization
  • ARAB 213 – Arabic Media
  • ARAB 289 – Women & Gender in Islam
  • ARAB 323 – Poetry and Empire: The Arab Ode
  • ARAB 340 – Arabic Drama
  • ARAB 366 – Islam and Identity
  • ARAB 336 – Contemporary Arabic Novels
  • ARAB 350 – Arabic Capstone Seminar
  • ARAB 360 – 1001 Nights
  • ARAB 370 – Justice in the Islamic Tradition
  • ARAB 395 – Literature & Social Movements
  • ARAB 399 – The Arab Novel
  • ARAB 401 – The Syntax of Arabic
  • ARAB 409 – The Quran in History
  • ARAB 414 – Advanced Arabic Media
  • ARAB 415 – Arab-English Translation 
  • ARAB 417 – Shariah Law
  • ARAB 420 – Literature: Age of Rhetoric
  • ARAB 423 – Modern Arabic Poetry
  • ARAB 426 – Poetry & Theory: the Arabic Ode
  • ARAB 470 – Intro to Arabic Philosophy and Theology

Pass/Fail

Pass/fail is not optional in the following courses:
All ARAB011 & ARAB012
All ARAB111 & ARAB112
ARAB113 & ARAB114
All ARAB213 & 214
All ARAB215, ARAB216, & ARAB217

Other courses can have pass/fail if the professor of the course approves it. 

General College Requirements: 36 credits

Please see your advisor for further details.

  • Humanities and Writing: 2 courses
  • Theology: 2 courses
  • Philosophy: 2 courses
  • Math/Science: 2 courses
  • History: 2 courses
  • Social Science: 2 courses in the same discipline

The following Arabic courses will fulfill the Social Science requirement:
ARAB 390: Introduction to Language

It is recommended that Arabic majors satisfy the History requirement by completing the following:

HIST 160: Mid. East Civ. I
HIST 161: Mid. East Civ. II

ORAL PROFICIENCY INTERVIEW:

In April of each year, Arabic majors who are enrolled in Arabic language courses, are required to take an oral proficiency test, lasting approximately 30 minutes. This is a departmental requirement. Students who do not take the test will have their Arabic final grades withheld for the semester. Majors do not need to sign-up for this exam, but will be contacted in late March with more information concerning the date and time of the test.