Arabic Studies

Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world. Twenty-four states have Arabic as their official language, all in Southwest Asia and Africa. Arabic is also spoken in many countries where it is not officially recognized such as Turkey and Iran. The worldwide Arabic-speaking diaspora is large, especially in South America. Arabic is the third-most spoken language in Australia after English and Mandarin. The large geographical spread of Arabic makes for many dynamic interactions and mixtures in literature and culture.

Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam studied by many millions of non-Arab Muslims around the world. It is also the scholarly language of Islam, spawning millions of titles over dozens of fields written in Arabic mainly by non-Arabs over nearly a millennium and half.

Arabic was the premier language of science until only a few centuries ago with its marks left on all disciplines of human inquiry,. However, Arabic is most famed for the subtlety of its expressions, the breadth of its words, and the expressive of its poetry. Arabic has influenced, and continues to influence, world languages and literatrues, a legacy extending from Portuguese to the Yolŋu.

These factors, among others, make Arabic a truly global language: a poem written in Senegal can be complemented by another written in Brazil, both to be printed in Pakistan, read in Sulawesi and read out loud in Zanzibar.

Due to its advantageous geographical position, rich cultural heritage, abundant natural resources, dynamic economy and rapid development, the Arab world has acquired great economic, political and cultural significance in the world. For these reasons, Arabic is an official language of the United Nations, the Arab League, the African Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

People speaking or writing in Arabic have, over their long and eventful history, created a rich and extraordinary artistic, scientific, literary and spiritual heritage; a cultural heritage which has contributed to the development of European art, philosophy and science, and influenced the course of history in Europe and beyond and continues to interact with world cultures large and small.

Arabic has been taught at the University of Melbourne since the 1940s, with a dedicated position established in 1961, making it the oldest Arabic program in Australia.

The Asia Institute’s Arabic Program offers students an integrated approach to studying the Arabic language and aspects of Arab culture. Along the way, students will gain insight into Arabic literature, but also the history, political geography, religious traditions and practices, current issues, popular culture, culinary traditions, and many other areas.

The program caters for total beginners to highly advanced students, with a special ability to engage heritage speakers. We also offer a summer semester at the Université Internationale de Rabat (UIR) where students learn Arabic and learn about humanities topics about the Arabic-speaking world, North Africa, and more. Students are encouraged to make use of language scholarship-supported study abroad opportunities to further develop their Arabic language proficiency and to gain first-hand experience of Arab culture.

The University of Melbourne also houses Australia’s largest collection of books in Arabic. It also has the largest collection of publicly held Arabic manuscripts, making it the premiere location to do research in Arabic, historical or contemporary. Staff in our program have experience supervising honours, Master’s, and doctoral theses.