ARAB 404
Topics in Contemporary Arab Cultures Spring 2024
Division I Writing Skills Difference, Power, and Equity

Class Details

What issues do contemporary Arab societies and cultures face? Through an exploration of various current issues, this course will introduce you to questions that engage Arab thought in modern times. What issues are central to women and young people today? How do the Arabic language and Arab identity intersect within increasingly multilingual and multicultural communities? What issues do minority communities in Arab countries face? How does globalization impact Arab societies? How do literature and art continue to reflect aspirations, challenges, and defiance? The course will explore these and other issues as represented in the language of print, internet, television, movies, and social media, and we will employ linguistic and paralinguistic analysis of these resources. Taught in Arabic.
The Class: Format: seminar; The course involves two main sessions and a third to be organized as a group or broken into conversation sessions.
Limit: 18
Expected: 7
Class#: 3175
Grading: yes pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: Class participation, daily writing and reflections, blogs, quizzes, leading a class presentation and discussion, and a final project.
Prerequisites: ARAB 302 or equivalent.
Enrollment Preferences: If the course is overenrolled, preference will be given to Arabic majors.
Distributions: Division I Writing Skills Difference, Power, and Equity
WS Notes: Students will engage in daily writing and reflections involving prose responses to discussion prompts, movies, YouTube videos, and articles. The students will also write blogs, commentaries, and a final project. The instructor will give daily feedback on students' writing as well as training in writing skills to advance their writing abilities.
DPE Notes: The students will engage in an exploration of social, political, and economic realities in Arab societies across state and community boundaries. They will examine similarities and differences across a variety of contexts involving differential power dynamics, biases, and gender roles. They will reflect on issues of power based on internal and external factors in Arab societies as positioned in a diverse region with unfolding political, social, and religious changes.

Class Grid

Updated 7:18 am

Course Catalog Search


(searches Title and Course Description only)
TERM




SUBJECT
DIVISION



DISTRIBUTION



ENROLLMENT LIMIT
COURSE TYPE
Start Time
End Time
Day(s)