After spending two years at the University of Baghdad, Iraq, where he majored in English and minored in Arabic, Belkacem Baccouche transferred to Kent State University where he received his BA in English. He then spent two years there working on an MA in Comparative Literature. He also pursued graduate work here at Georgetown by taking courses in the English department.
His teaching experience started in Peace Corps training programs and continued at Kent State where he was a graduate assistant teaching French to PhD candidates in the Humanities and Sciences.
At the Middle East Institute, he has taught all levels of Arabic, as well as other courses such as Tales from the Arabian Nights, Short Stories from North Africa, Arabic Composition, Readings in the Social Sciences, and Naguib Mahfouz in Film.
At Georgetown, he has taught Business Arabic, Arabic Textual Analysis and Interpretation, Intermediate and Advanced Arabic.
Since 1993, he has been associated with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, teaching Intermediate and Advanced Arabic, as well as coordinating the MAAS Arabic Language program. He is committed to doing his best to bring Arabic closer to his students, while maintaining high standards. He has taken part in many conferences and workshops on language acquisition.
He co-wrote Introduction to Modern Standard Arabic Conversation, Conversations in Modern Standard Arabic, and Business Arabic.
He edited the Arabic text, and translated into English: 'Asir: Turath wa Hadara ('Asir: Heritage and Civilization) by Dr. Wahbi al-Hariri. He did extensive translation work from English to Arabic, and from Arabic or French to English, of materials dealing with economics, foreign trade, development, Int'l affairs, history and culture.
From 1994-1999 he served as Director of the Georgetown Summer Arabic Institute. While a student at Kent State, he did some writing and reporting for the Voice of America, acted in French and English plays. He enjoys teaching, reading, music, poetry, and the cinema.
Academic Appointment(s)
- Primary
- Associate Teaching Professor, College - Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies