Al-Arab’s article, entitled “Americans Compete to Study Arabic at Qatar University,” discusses the cooperative relationship between CCAS and Qatar University (QU) that enables American students to study Arabic in Doha. The piece describes the Arabic for Non-Native Speakers Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at QU, of which Dr. Abdullah Abdel Rahman is the Director. At Georgetown, Dr. Samer Shehata heads the CCAS scholarship program for study at QU, which has awarded 20 scholarships to American students over the past four years.
The article also discusses the increased demand for Arabic study in the West and in the U.S. in particular over the last few years. It quotes Dr. Shehata as describing the program as important for increasing the understanding of the Arab world in the U.S.
The photo includes three American students currently studying Arabic at QU as well as Dr. Abdel Rahman and Dr. Shehata. Those pictured are (from left to right): Macey Stapleton (B.A. Duke University, 2007), Dr. Abdullah Abdel Rahman, Kate Eyerman (B.A. Northwestern University, 2006, Georgetown M.A. student), Dr. Samer Shehata, Tyson Patros (B.A. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2007.)
Al-Sharq’s article is entitled “Dr. Abdullah is Appointed Director of the Arabic Language Program.”
Dr. Abdullah Abdel Rahman was recently appointed Director of the Arabic for Non-Native Speakers Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University. Dr. Abdel Rahman received a B.A. in Arabic from Nouakchott University in Mauritania in 1986 and then attended the University of Tunis, where he received a Ph.D. in Arabic in 1991. He began teaching in the Arabic Department at Nouakchott University in 1991, becoming chair in 2001. He also received a Certificate in teaching Arabic as a foreign language from the High Education Institute in Paris in 1994 and from Las Palmas University in Spain in 1995. Dr. Abdel Rahman taught Arabic at Grenoble University in France in 1999 and came to Qatar University in 2002. He has published a number of research papers and has participated in numerous regional and international conferences.