Arabic Summer Institute at Al-Akhawayn Institute in Ifrane, Morocco

2006 Dates TBA

Track 1: 8-week Language only (6 to 10 credit hours)
Track 2: 8-week Language and Culture (9 to 13 credit hours)

For more information, please see the KU Office of Study Abroad.


Placement and Proficiency Testing

Students will take both pre- and post-program proficiency tests. Their placement will depend on their performance in a written test and in an oral proficiency interview. Proficiency guidelines are those set by The American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL).


Modern Standard Arabic Language Courses

Beginning Level: ARA 1411*/ARA 1412 (KU ARAB 110/120)
This level is for students with little or no prior experience with Arabic. By the end of the program students are expected to:

  1. Participate in simple conversations
  2. Read and write simple, correct, short texts of Modern Standard Arabic
  3. Acquire vocabulary of about 1000 words
  4. Acquire word processing skills in Arabic
This course carries 8 credits and consists of 192 contact hours. Typically, in addition to all units of Alif Baa, students complete 13 units in Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Part 1. Students should expect to work, on average, four to five hours per day outside of class.
*A new section of ARA 1411 for novices will be offered in the second session if five students or more need it.

Required Texts
Alif Baa, An Introduction to Arabic Letters and Sounds. Kristen Brustad et al. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 1995.
Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Part 1. Kristen Brustad et al. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 1995.

Intermediate Level: ARA 2311/ARA 2312 (KU ARAB 210/220)
Students at this level will have studied Arabic for approximately 2 to 3 standard semesters. By the end of the program students are expected to:

  1. Be able to understand main ideas in texts dealing with basic personal and social needs
  2. Write Arabic for various basic purposes
  3. Narrate and describe basic situations
  4. Handle a number of interactive and social situations
  5. Be familiar with the Moroccan colloquial variety of Arabic
This course carries 6 credits and consists of 160 contact hours. Typically, students complete 13 units in Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Parts 1 and 2. Students at the intermediate level are required to attend all Arabic lectures and movies, and to participate in parallel activities in Arabic. On average, students should expect to work four to five hours per day outside of class, including the work done on an independent project.
Note: A Lower Intermediate class may be created to accommodate those students whose proficiency and language skills require that they start at a lower level.

Required Texts
Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Part 1. Kristen Brustad et al. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 1995.
Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Part 2. Kristen Brustad et al. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 1997.

Advanced Level: ARA 3311/ARA 3312 (KU ARAB 310/320)
This level is designed for students who have accumulated approximately 4 to 5 standard semesters of instruction in Modern Standard Arabic. By the end of the program students are expected to:

  1. Strengthen their reading skills and vocabulary
  2. Refine and expand their knowledge of sentence construction
  3. Gain additional cultural knowledge
  4. Attain advanced proficiency in the skills of speaking, and listening comprehension of contemporary materials in various fields
  5. Be familiar with the Moroccan colloquial variety of Arabic
This course carries 6 credits and consists of 160 contact hours. Typically, students complete 13 units in Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Parts 2 and 3. Students at the advanced level are required to attend all Arabic lectures and movies, and to participate in parallel activities in Arabic. On average, students should expect to work four to five hours per day outside of class, including reading authentic texts and doing library research.

Required Texts
Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Part 2. Kristen Brustad et al. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 1997.
Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'arabiyya, Part 3. Kristen Brustad et al. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2001.

Parallel Activities in Arabic

  1. Lectures and workshops offered by Arabic faculty as well as by artists and guest speakers
  2. Movies and documentaries in Modern Standard Arabic
  3. Two major weekend trips to Errachidia, Erfoud and Merzouga, and to the imperial city of Marrakesh
  4. Recreational clubs for such activities as music, dance, and calligraphy
  5. Optional family home stays for one or two weekends
  6. Lunches with teachers and TAs speaking Arabic only



North African Studies (KU AAAS 520)

North African Studies courses are offered in the regular summer semester.
Each course carries 3 semester credit hours

HIS 1301: History of the Arab World
This course covers the history of the Arab world from the rise of Islam to the present. It will take a social and cultural approach to understanding the different histories of Arab society. The course will attempt to balance political history and its focus on regimes and main events with long term social and cultural transformations that are relevant to the ordinary peoples of the Arab world.


HUM 3301: Islamic Art and Architecture
This course is an introduction to Islamic art and architecture with an emphasis on the Maghrib and al-Andalus. The first section of the course deals with the period of formation of Islamic art from the advent of Islam to the end of the Ummayad period. The second section consists of a survey of the art and architecture of the major dynasties of the Islamic West from AD 750 to AD 1800. The last section of the course will link Islamic art, architecture, and urbanism to their social and economic contexts.


HUM 3302: Islamic Civilization
This course introduces the student to the general features of various aspects of Islamic civilization using an approach that takes into account the basis of this civilization, its sources and its permanent components. Causes of past development of this civilization will be related to factors that explain its present-day vitality.


INS 3399: Special Topics - North African Literature
North African literature, coming from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, provides a vibrant mix of both traditional and contemporary literary forms ranging from traditional halqa (public storytelling) and sira (epic stories) to modern drama and novels. In this class students will read a variety of representative texts (and in some cases, excerpts) from various genres, culminating in the study of contemporary writers. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of both the Colonial and Postcolonial experiences of these countries as well as how literature gives voice to contemporary issues of gender relations, political conflict, and confronting modernity.