About

The Arabic Lecture Series is a compilation of presentations made by native Arabic speakers and non-natives with high levels of proficiency in 2015 and 2017.  They cover a range of topics of cultural interest to the speaker and the original audience.

Each lecture was produced by Dr. Eric Young through the Critical Language Scholarship Alumni Development Fund.  This fund exists as a means of helping CLS alumni to continue improving their language skills after study abroad (and you should absolutely apply to both CLS and then the ADF once you finish).   Although the ADF's primary purpose was for Dr. Young to improve his Arabic proficiency through interacting with the presenters and listening to the presentations, I wanted to make sure that those students attending the lectures as well as future Arabic learners could also benefit from the presentations.  They are, after all, really interesting.

These lectures were intended for intermediate level language learners but not to provide intermediate level language.  That is, they are intended to challenge 2nd and 3rd year university level Arabic students.  They are not intended to be fully comprehensible to that audience, but intermediate listeners should be able to get the gist of the lecture.  Some key vocabulary are provided in the lecture notes to make the lectures more accessible, and other vocabulary are provided as glosses in the videos themselves.

This site is a free service intended to benefit those who were not part of the original audience.  As a free service and since I'm the only one maintaining this project, please be patient with the quality of the framework, lectures, and this hosting site, as well as the speed with which I update things.  If you have any vocabulary lists, caption, subtitles, or cultural notes, I'd love to add them to this site and credit you for your work whether you're a student, faculty member, or just an interested Arabic speaker. Feel free to email ArabicLectureSeries@gmail.com

Special thanks to each of the speakers.  It was a pleasure to work with you and I hope I gave you a chance to share your voice with the world.  At the very least, please know that you made a difference in my learning!

The Arabic Lecture Series is made possible by a grant from the Critical Language Scholarship Program and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  The views and information presented are the presenter’s own and do not represent the CLS Program or the U.S. Department of State.