Ph.D. Track: Linguistics of Middle Eastern Languages

Contact Professor Samira Farwaneh (farwaneh@email.arizona.edu) for more information.

General Description

The Ph.D. program in the linguistics of Middle Eastern languages is designed for students interested in the following specializations:

• Empirical analysis of the phonology, morphology, or syntax of Near Eastern languages
• Regional and social varieties of Near Eastern languages
• Near Eastern languages in social and political contexts
• Historical and contemporary study of Near Eastern languages.

The program  provides students with training in research methods and analysis, and features discussions on current debates on Middle Eastern languages and their varieties within regional and national contexts; thereby accommodating both students interested in Ph.D. research and students with primary interest in language pedagogy.

Required Courses

Core Ph.D. Courses (all tracks)

Cultural component (6 units)
Choose two of the following (One three-unit course may serve to satisfy the gender/society requirement above.)
Sociolinguistics- Language & Society of the Middle East    
Cultural Anthropology  
Survey-of-Middle-Eastern-Languages      

Basic/Theoretical linguistics component (15 units)
        Linguistics 503 (Syntax I)
        Linguistics 510 (Phonology I)
        Linguistics 535 (Morphology)
        Choose two of the following structure courses:
        New course:  Structure of Near Eastern Languages;
        Courses in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish  Linguistics
        TAFL: Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language, to be cross-listed with SLAT and Linguistics.
        A teaching methods course with emphasis on Less Commonly Taught Languages.

Research component (6 units)
        Prelim course   (3 units)
        Qualifying paper credits (3 units)

Seminar (600-level) component (9 units)

Seminars: 2 required  (6 units)
            Structure of Iranian languages
            Structure of Hebrew
            Arabic dialects
            Diglossia
            Jewish languages
            Issues in Language politics (possibly Language Planning and Policy LRC 795)
            Language & Gender
            Gender across disciplines (NES 640)
            Philosophy of language

Minor (9 units)
        Can be in Linguistics, NES, SLAT, Anthropology, LRC, or any related field approved by the Graduate Committee.    

Total Coursework Hours: 54

Contact Professor Samira Farwaneh (farwaneh@email.arizona.edu) for more information.

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