This year marks a milestone for Dr. Lamia Benyoussef, associate professor of Arabic. For the first time in her six years at the College, her students will be able to declare a minor in Arabic studies.

The minor – which becomes official in fall 2021 – is something students have been begging for, Benyoussef says. Her Arabic courses encourage a deep understanding of language and culture that students want to see reflected on their degrees. This program within the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and the growing student interest is exactly what Benyoussef came to Birmingham-Southern to establish.

“A minor in Arabic studies will open the door for State Department internships and jobs, and it will be a great opportunity for students in the Departments of Religion, History, and Global Studies to gain a more profound knowledge of their discipline by learning Arabic and reading primary sources in their fields of research,” Benyoussef says.

Benyoussef played an important role in organizing BSC’s fifth annual Modern Foreign Languages Day in 2020. She worked with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Cross Cultural Committee to invite Jennifer Grout, an American singer who won second place in the 2013 “Arabs Got Talent” competition, as the keynote speaker and featured performer.

Benyoussef describes herself as a Tunisian-American with settled roots in Alabama, where she’s lived for nearly 20 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from L’École Normale Supérieure of Sousse, Tunisia, and continued her studies at Michigan State University, where she earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in English. Benyoussef then began teaching at UAB and continuing to expand her research interests in post-colonialism, feminist theory, and African literature.

Prior to 2015, when Benyoussef came to BSC, Arabic studies were first introduced by the late Ibrahim “Abe” Salem Fawal ’54, an influential filmmaker, author, and teacher. Fawal began his time as an adjunct professor in fall 1987 with an introductory film course, drawing from his production experience on films like the 1962 classic “Lawrence of Arabia.” He later incorporated Arabic studies into literature and film classes like “Cinema Studies and Modern Arabic Literature and Culture.”

Years later, President Emeritus Gen. Charles Krulak – who recognized Arabic and Chinese as “the languages of the future” – brought Arabic to the College’s foreign language department. Krulak recruited several foreign language teaching assistants (FLTAs) to continue their research at BSC while teaching language courses. For Arabic instruction, FLTAs from Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco came to the Hilltop in 2011.

With these languages now offered at BSC, Professor of History Dr. Mark Schantz – who served as provost at the time – secured a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish a tenure-track Arabic position at BSC, which brought Benyoussef into the department.

Benyoussef has implemented the study of Arabic as a broader lens to look through beyond just learning a language. She encourages students to not only memorize words and letters but to incorporate all different parts of the language into their daily lives, whether that’s having conversations with native speakers or watching Arabic soap operas.

Students in Benyoussef’s “Couscous, Baklava, and Empire” course had the opportunity to learn over tea and influential dishes from the Arab world. The course was held in Benyoussef’s home so they could make food together as a class.

She’s also offered courses about the greater Arab world covering music and poetry, gender and sexual ethics, religion and religious conflicts, economic inequality, and other global issues. During E-Term 2020, she offered a course called “Couscous, Baklava, and Empire,” in which students learned about the impact of food across the Arab world and made some of the influential dishes at Benyoussef’s home.

For E-Term 2022, she will co-teach a class with Dr. Dan Coyle, visiting assistant professor of Asian studies and philosophy, on musical traditions of the Arabic world. The coursework will focus on both theory and performance, and Benyoussef hopes to recruit some majors outside of her department who will build upon their talents and interests in the course.

“We will look at the philosophy of music, the different traditions of North African and Egyptian music, and its influence on music around the world,” Benyoussef says. “Usually people never think of connections between foreign language and music, but there is a strong connection. My students who have a strong musical backgrounds understand sounds that others don’t.”

Benyoussef has seen many of her students tie Arabic courses to other majors, especially in the humanities. She looks to history graduate Connor Hansen ’20, BSC’s inaugural Hardin-Churchill Scholar, who conducted research at the Churchill Archives Centre at the University of Cambridge’s Churchill College. Hansen’s Arabic courses at BSC inspired him to study Leo Amery, a lifelong friend of Churchill and politician who helped to draft the Balfour Declaration.

Now, with a new minor, Benyoussef expects to see more students pursue their interest in Arabic and – in true liberal arts fashion – apply what they learn to a wide range of majors and career goals.

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In our latest issue of ’Southern, we took a look inside Benyoussef’s office in the Humanities Building. Read more here.

This story was included in a special humanities edition of From the Hilltop, Birmingham-Southern’s alumni email newsletter.

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