American Association of Teachers of Arabic (AATA) aims to facilitate communication and cooperation between teachers of Arabic and to promote study, criticism, research and instruction in the field of Arabic language pedagogy, Arabic linguistics and Arabic literature. The information available here is a sampling of the materials available to AATA members. For information on joining, please see the “Membership” link on the right.

From AATA’S President

We would like to recognize the work of John Eisele, at the College of William and Mary, for his extraordinary eight years of service as Executive Director of AATA. The usual term of service for the Executive Director is five years, but John was willing to serve even longer because AATA needed him.

John took over the reins of directorship in 2000. We have him to thank for the excellent website that was constructed and managed at William and Mary, and for many other administrative issues as well. As you probably all know, the office of President of AATA is a great honor and responsibility. It is the Executive Director who makes the organization work, who guides it on a day-to-day basis to be responsive to the needs of members, and to grow.

During John’s tenure, the world changed; Arabic became big news, students flocked to classes, more and more educators wanted and needed information. AATA was constantly called upon to provide more services and information than ever before. The demands on his time and the nature of his position increased dramatically. Through all of these changes, John managed to hold everything together, and to make progress with our organization, despite his full-time academic responsibilities.

We are deeply grateful to John for his years of service, for going far beyond what can be expected of an Executive Director, and for being a great friend and colleague.

Karin Ryding
Georgetown University
President, AATA

Editor of Al-cArabiyya

As I finally get close to producing my first volume of Al-^cArabiyya, after seeming endless delays and troubles, I would like to acknowledge the work of those who have contributed to the work of the journal before I took on the tasks of editor.

Dr. Kirk Belnap (Brigham Young University) edited Al-^cArabiyya for several years. He did a wonderful job in maintaining the excellence of the journal as a resource for all teachers of Arabic. He had terrific support in his Associate Editor, Dr. Muhammad Eissa (University of Chicago), and in Dr. Alan Kaye (California State University, Fullerton) as Book Editor (rahamahu Allah). Alan graciously stayed on as Book Editor after I started my term as Editor. He tirelessly helped with every aspect of the editing process. His passing has grieved me tremendously, and has been a true loss for the journal and for the community of Arabic and Semitic linguists.

Thank you also to Dr. Abbas Benmamoun (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Micheline Chalhoub-Deville (University of North Carolina, Greensboro), Dr. Terri DeYoung (University of Washington), Dr. Salah-Dine Hammoud (US Airforce Academy), Dr. Mona Mikhail (New York University) and Dr. Munther Younes (Cornell University). Each of offered a special type of wisdom for the editorial process, and whose particular value I have come to understand only in restrospect as I formed the new board, and have burdened them with tasks of reading and evaluating submissions. I also now know how much editorial assistants contribute to the process, so we also thank Layla Al-Jamal, who was Kirk's most recent editorial assistant for the journal.

In my last message to AATA members, I wrote of the need for a book editor to fill the role that Alan Kaye so graciously occupied until his death last spring. I received several offers volunteering to take on the tasks of book editor, the first of which I accepted with gratitude. Dr. Mustafa Mughazy (Western Michigan University) has accepted to act as book editor. I will forward to him all the volumes which have been sent to me in the last six months and which have not yet been placed with reviewers.

Please contact at Dr. Mughazy mustafa.mughazy@wmich.edu if you are interested in reviewing books for Al-^cArabiyya. I am grateful to both Dr. Reem Bassiouny (Georgetown University) and Steven Berbeco (Charlestown High School) for their offers as well, and I hope they will help Mustafa with the substantial number of books that need review.

As for the 2005-06 volume, which I had planned to have in your hands by MESA, I hope very much to have it out within the month. The 2007 volume is ready to go to layout and printing except for the most minor of touches. The delayed double volume should be followed in very short order by the 2007 volume. The 2008 volume has already taken shape, and you should hear more about it next month. I will also ask Elizabeth to broadcast the call for papers for the 2009 volume next month.

It was wonderful to see many of you at MESA. Kull `Aam wa'antum Tayyibuun!

Clarissa Burt
US Naval Academy
Editor of Al-^cArabiyya

From AATA’S Executive Director

Supporting members of AATA

Mohammed Eissa, University of Chicago

Mahmoud Al-Batal, University of Texas, Austin

Mahdi Alosh, United States Military Academy

Maher Bahloul, American University of Sharjah

Austin   Bell, Islamic American University

John Eisele, College of Wililam and Mary

Gerald Lampe, NFLC

Jamal Mavrikios, Pacific Arabic Resources

Ernest McCarus, University of Michigan

Ra'ed Qasem

Aleya Rouchdy, Wayne State University

Karin Ryding, Georgetown University

Martha Schulte-Nafeh, University of Arizona

Contact Information for AATA

American Association of Teachers of Arabic
3416 Primm Lane
Birmingham, AL 35216
telephone: 205.822.6800
fax: 205.823.2760
For membership, subscription, and administrative questions: info@aataweb.org
For newsletter submissions and other questions: admin@aataweb.org

AATA Lifetime Achievement Award 2007: Dr. Ernest N. McCarus (University of Michigan)

November 17, 2007
AATA Meeting, Montreal

We all know Ernest McCarus well, in view of his extensive contributions to our field and also in view of his leadership of AATA. But there might be some things you don’t know about Ernest.

• Did you know that he got his B.A. in Japanese?
• Did you know that his M.A. is in Spanish?
• Did you know that his Ph.D. is in Linguistics?
• Did you know that he published a grammar of Kurdish 1n 1958?
• Did you know that he was a team captain for Allied Translating and Interpreting Services at Allied Headquarters in Tokyo in WWII?
• Did you know that he was Director of the Foreign Service Institute Arabic Field School in Beirut from 1958-1960?

Of course, you know that he was chair of the Department of Near East Studies at University of Michigan for eight years, from 1969-1977. You know that he was Director of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) from 1974-1983. He was also Director of the University of Michigan Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies from 1983-1992.

Ernest has been the recipient of numerous research awards. These include a Fulbright, a Rockefeller, a Ford, and a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant. He was a founding member of AATA, and the first editor of the AATA Newsletter and Al-Arabiyya.

We all certainly know and appreciate his memorable work in the field of Arabic textbooks. He developed, with his close colleague Peter F. Abboud (University of Texas, Austin) and others, the famous “orange” and “green” book series, Elementary Modern Standard Arabic (EMSA) and Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic (IMSA). He also served as editor of the wonderful series, Contemporary Arabic Readers, published by University of Michigan in the 60's. The series included Newspaper Arabic, Arabic Essays, Formal Arabic, Short Stories, and Modern Arabic Poetry. Other Arabic textbooks have been published since then. These resources, however, set a standard that has not yet been surpassed.

In 2005, Ernest was the recipient of MESA’s Jere L. Bacharach Service Award. It recognized his pioneering contributions in the field, his exemplary leadership, his visionary direction of CASA, and his efforts as a founding member of our organization, the American Association of Teachers of Arabic.

It is with great pride that we of AATA honor him today. Without him, AATA would not be in the position of strength that it is today.

Karin Ryding
Georgetown University
President, AATA

Supporting members of AATA

AATA would like to thank Supporting Members for their generosity. The following have become Supporting Members since August 2007:

• Mahmoud M. Al-Batal, University of Texas, Austin
• Mahdi Alosh, United States Military Academy
• Maher Bahloul, American University of Sharjah
• Austin Bell, Islamic American University
• John C. Eisele, College of William and Mary
• Gerald Lampe, NFLC
• Jamal Mavrikios, Pacific Arabic Resources
• Ernest McCarus, University of Michigan
• Ra'ed Qasem
• Aleya Rouchdy, Wayne State University
• Karin Ryding Georgetown University
• Martha Schulte-Nafeh, University of Arizona

Please consider becoming a Supporting Member of AATA with a donation of at least $25. See the AATA Membership Application (download it at http://aataweb.org/Default.aspx?pageID=11) for details.