American Association of Teachers of Arabic

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 Executive Director

Dear AATA Members,

Spring is in the air at the AATA offices. Several exciting new initiatives are in the works, and we hope to announce them in the coming months.

With the approach of summer, each week brings a number of announcements about opportunities for Arabic language study in the US and elsewhere. These are listed under “Language Study Opportunities.” If you know of a program that might be of interest to your colleagues, please send a brief announcement to me at (admin@aataweb.org). Please send your announcement in text format, preferably in MS Word. I regret that we cannot accept PDF files at this time.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to renew your membership, you can expect to receive a renewal form shortly. All AATA members will also receive the ballot for AATA Executive Board elections, with a strong slate of candidate-colleagues.

The AATA Newsletter always welcomes contributions from members. When you attend a conference or meeting that you believe is of interest to AATA colleagues, please send a brief description to me (admin@aataweb.org) for possible inclusion in the next issue of the Newsletter.

With best wishes for a pleasant and productive spring semester,

Elizabeth M. Bergman, Ph.D.
AATA Executive Director

Supporting members of AATA

AATA would like to thank Supporting Members for their generosity. The following have become Supporting Members since October 2007:
Sawsan Abbadi, University of Massachusetts
Mahmoud Al-Batal, University of Texas, Austin
Shlomo Alon
Mahdi Alosh, United States Military Academy
Aman Attieh, Swarthmore College
Maher Bahloul, American University of Sharjah
Austin Bell, Islamic American University
John Eisele, College of Wililam and Mary
Hisham Khalek, University of Minnesota
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=11for details.)

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