Arabic was taught in the Department of Foreign Languages & Cultures in the nineties, housed in the Department of French, and offered one course at the beginning level. The first Arabic instructor was Professor Mohy El-Din A. Saleh.

In Fall 2002, the Program in Arabic was reestablished in the Department of World Languages & Cultures due to the increasing student demand and the government need for professional bilingual speakers of Arabic, one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Since then, the Program in Arabic was developed by Dr. Amira Mashhour. It started by offering one three credits section at the beginning level of the language, and gradually grew, offering three levels of the language (Beginning- Intermediate- Advanced). with two courses at each level. In 2008, a Minor in Arabic Language & Islamic Studies was launched followed, in 2010, by an Individualized Major in Arabic. In 2019, the Minor in Arabic Culture & Public Health was offered in collaboration with the Fairbanks School of Public Health.

These adjunct faculty contributed to making the program viable.

Dr. Mohy El-Din Ahmed Saleh (1991-1996)
First instructor

Dr. MaryAnn Fadea (1997-2000)
Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Abdullah Ali (2004-2009)
Adjunct Faculty

Fadia Antabli (2011-2014)
Adjunct Faculty

Amal Cavender (2015-2018)
Adjunct Faculty

Dr. AlHadi AlTower (Fall 2019)
Adjunct Faculty

Ahmed Hassan (Fall 2022 – )
Adjunct Faculty