College of Arts & Sciences
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies

Major 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:

Additionally, all majors are required to take:

Language courses cannot be taken out of sequence, i.e. a 2000-level course cannot be taken after completing a 3000-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 pursuing 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 is 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.

Pass/Fail

Pass/fail is not a grading option offered for the following courses:
ARAB 1011 & ARAB 1012
ARAB 1111 & ARAB 1112
ARAB 1113 & ARAB 1114
ARAB 2218 & 2220
ARAB 2216, ARAB 2217, & ARAB 2219

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.

The following Arabic courses will fulfill the Social Science requirement:
ARAB 3393: Intro to Arabic Sociolinguistics

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

HIST 1601: Middle East History I
HIST 1602: Middle East History 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.