At Yale, the Hebrew and Arabic programs have collaborated to create a class in which both languages are introduced, emphasizing their linguistic resemblance, engaging the students in shared cultural themes, and introducing spoken Hebrew and a few Arabic dialects. The course has a twofold aim: to introduce a new Semitic language to speakers of the other, focusing on the similarities between the languages, and bringing together Arabic speakers and Hebrew speakers to one class for social and cultural interaction. In this presentation, we elaborated on the course structure and teaching methods, its administrative and other challenges, and its potential to contribute to original language pedagogy and to innovative curriculum-building and community-building in higher education.

A slide from the presentation