Arabic at Carolina | Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

The Department of Asian Studies offers Arabic language courses, advanced literature and culture courses in Arabic, and Arabic literature and culture courses taught in English. Students can major in Arab Cultures, minor in Arabic, or choose Arabic to satisfy their foreign language requirements.

Genuine beginners in Arabic should enroll in ARAB 101 (offered every fall and often in first summer session). Students with prior knowledge of either spoken or written Arabic will be required to take a placement test to determine which class is most suitable for them.

Priority is given to freshmen and sophomores for registration in ARAB 101. Students who wish to take Arabic, particularly those who need to take it as a major requirement, are advised to begin the sequence as early as possible. All students, especially juniors and seniors, may wish to consider starting elementary Arabic in the summer when there are no class-year restrictions and it is easier to get into the class.

In addition to our sequenced language courses, and varied offerings in English about Arab cultures, the Arabic program offers a course in Grammar and Composition (ARAB 300, required of all majors and with a prerequisite of ARAB 204) and a Languages Across the Curriculum (LAC) recitation in Arabic (ARAB 308). The LAC section is tied to one or more content courses about the Middle East offered at UNC, thereby offering students an opportunity to use their emerging language skills to discuss and study a range of academic subjects.