Students in the Arabic Studies Program develop critical thinking and analytic skills, learn language skills in addition to translation, and consider what goes in to making domestic and international policy. Alumni from our program have gone on to teach for Americorps, create documentaries, develop foreign policy, and more.
Need help planning your career path? The University of Oregon offers numerous resources to help you prepare for careers, find internship opportunities, and apply for jobs.
CASA Advanced Training in Arabic Language and Culture
This program is designed for learners who are planning careers that require advanced Arabic proficiency in fields such as academia, government, the professions, or international development.
CASA offers advanced level training in Arabic language and culture to qualified American students and faculty at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan, and the Arab American Language Institute in Morocco (AALIM) in Meknes, Morocco.
Alumni Spotlights
Deepika Viswanath (BA, 2019)
Viswanath graduated in 2019 with a major in linguistics and a minor in Arabic studies. During her time at UO, she took three years of Arabic, classical Arabic classes, and anthropology and religion classes related to Islam and the Middle East. Since leaving UO, she's worked as a site coordinator for Americorps’ Reading Partners at an elementary school in Sunnyvale, California. Since then, she has published a mystery/thriller book and started a stationary brand called Dream On Notebooks.
"Taking Arabic has increased my love for writing, learning languages, and discovering new songs. For me, language learning is so much more than just a page of homework every night. It’s about connections, gaining new skills and using a language in a social setting."
Aaron Weintraub (BA, 2017)
Aaron Weintraub majored in journalism and minored in Arabic studies. Shortly after graduation he moved to Amman, Jordan, to work with Collateral Repair Project [CRP], creating videos for their end-of-year campaign. In 2018 he began directing a mini-documentary, "Class X," for news outlet Syria Direct. The film focuses on two trainees, both of which were media advocates in the Syrian conflict, their reporting work at Syria Direct, and their struggle to obtain more objective journalistic practices. He has also started the Collateral Repair Podcast, featuring interviews with refugees about specific topics and situations they may experience.
"Beyond just living in Amman and getting around socially, my work with videography and journalism here depends greatly on my Arabic-speaking abilities. My entire interview process hinges upon me being able to understand and translate questions into Arabic. Journalism as a field is starting to recognize the importance of bilingual reporters, particularly in multimedia storytelling."
Alyssa Goessler (BA, 2016)
Alyssa Goessler graduated from the Clark Honors College in 2016 with a degree in social sciences (globalization, environment and policy) and a minor in Arabic studies. After graduating, she worked in New York at the Permanent Mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United Nations, at the Executive Office of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and event planning for meetings at the United Nations headquarters in New York. She entered a master’s program in 2019 focusing on security studies and Arabic studies.
"My time abroad completely undid any preconceived notions I had of the Middle East. I found myself being continuously humbled as I had to accept that I really knew nothing about the Middle East and Middle Eastern culture. If my Arabic Studies have taught me one single thing, it’s that I ought to always be open-minded and curious, and that the second I assume I know everything is the exact moment I will lose my ability to learn."
Lily Leach (BA, 2012)
At the UO Lily majored in comparative literature in 2012 and studied Arabic for three years. Shortly after graduation, she moved to Cairo where she worked as an editor for a local trade magazine, an intern at the American University in Cairo Press, and as a news editor for "Egypt Independent." She relocated to Istanbul where she worked as an editor for an international business magazine. She is currently a staff writer and news editor at a Palestinian news agency in Bethlehem, the occupied West Bank.
"Without Arabic, I wouldn’t have been introduced to the network of people—both faculty and fellow students—who encouraged me to move to Egypt and start a career in media. I would have never thought it possible to live and work abroad, had it not been for the education on the Arab world that I received."
Katherine von Ofenheim (BA, 2012)
At the UO, Katherine majored in international studies and geography. After her sophomore year, she traveled to Bahrain to help lead youth programs and later to Jordan for a semester abroad. Afterwards, she interned at an Arab women’s rights organization in southern Israel. She is currently based in Turkey and trying to make inroads with Arabic (Syrian dialect now).
"This small glimpse of the very early days of the dramatic political changes set into motion my senior thesis on the Historical Context for the Responses of the Syrian and Egyptian Armies during the Arab Spring. My Arabic skills, rudimentary as they still were, were crucial to sift through sources on the Arab militaries that didn’t exist in English."
Mohammed Aldawood (BA, 2012)
After working a couple years in accounting, Aldawood decided to pursue his passion for teaching Arabic. As an undergraduate, he worked as both an Arabic tutor and self-study instructor and enjoyed sharing both his language and culture with students studying Arabic. While studying at DePaul University in pursuit of a master’s degree in Arabic. While there, he received notice that he had been chosen to receive a fellowship from Qatar Foundation International (QFI), which provided extensive financial and instructional support.
"From the beginning, both learning and teaching Arabic from the Gulf (al khaleeji) perspective has been important because it has been quite absent in the field. I am excited to share not only my dialect with my students but also the culture of the Gulf. Language teaching has tended to focus on Egyptian and Jordanian dialects as well as Modern Standard Arabic, but I will be able to bring in this missing component which is quite important to me personally. Additionally, teaching Arabic and the culture of the Middle East is particularly poignant these days and I look forward to being an ambassador of my culture and dispelling many misconceptions about a culture I love."
Zane Hager (BA, 2011)
Zane Kessler Hager is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Conflict and Dispute Resolution at the U of O Law School and works as a GTF in the Religious Studies Department. He studied Arabic for 3 years as an undergraduate and plans (hopes) to use that knowledge as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.
How has the study of Arabic been important for your life and career?
Arabic was something that I took on a whim as a freshman that ended up defining my academic career. I initially just wanted to learn how to write in what I thought was a cool-looking script. Three years of Arabic later I realized that the language was an entryway into the whole fascinating world of Islam, religious studies and international politics. I’m working now to apply that interest and focus towards a job in international politics.
What has learning Arabic meant to you personally?
Personally, studying Arabic was an enormous challenge. Arabic 201 is the only class I’ve ever flunked. Recovering from that, getting back on the horse, was a surprisingly important experience for me. Arabic is a hard language to learn, and my struggle to do so helped me realize that getting a good grade is not the same thing as getting a good education. I figured out that I wanted to learn the language, and even though my natural facility to do so was limited, pursuing something that I cared about for reasons beyond getting a grade was really valuable to me.
Emily Stokes (BA, 2011)
Emily graduated in 2011 from the International Studies program with concentrations in the Middle East and Peace Studies, Human Rights, and Conflict resolution. Since graduating from UO, she has worked in the field of International Education at INTO Oregon State University. In 2014, she received a Master of Arts in International Education Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, which was preceded by a summer in Middlebury College’s Intensive Arabic Language Program. Her work at INTO OSU includes proposing, designing and coordinating programs for international students from all over the world.
How has the study of Arabic been important for your life and career?
My Arabic studies have had a major impact on my career trajectory. My language skills have greatly added to what I am able to do within the field of international education; including helping new international students adjust to life in the US, and even travel abroad to recruit new international students from all over the Arab world. There are very specific opportunities I would have missed without having Arabic language skills.
What has learning Arabic meant to you personally?
Learning Arabic has meant the ability to better understand an often misunderstood culture and region. It has allowed me to make lifelong friendships with others across the globe, enriching my personal and professional life. I have loved having the ability to communicate with other Arabic speakers on a deeper level because of my language abilities.
Kyra Buckley (BA, 2016)
Buckley studied Arabic at the UO and studied abroad in Oman. She teaches dance and is a reporter at Eugene’s local NPR station.
"I am a Jazzercise instructor. Think that has nothing to do with Arabic? I have to memorize 16 routines per class, and they rotate from week to week. My memorization skills are so advanced, it takes little time at all. Experience giving presentations in Arabic class boosted my stage presence and confidence. Plus, every once in a while I impress my Jazzercise students by counting in Arabic or sharing an Arabic phrase!"