Research Guides: Arabic language and literature: Home

Arabic language and literature, and the University Library

Arabic language and literature is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, housed in the Department of Modern and classical languages and literatures.

Per their webpage: "Arabic is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is the official language in 22 Arab countries and the language of faith for over one billion people. A major in Arabic includes language courses to hone... reading, writing, and speaking skills. The program also offers courses in literature, cinema, and culture to enhance ...cultural competency. Developing strong linguistic skills, critical thinking, and cultural knowledge will make graduates more competitive in the job market. ... [Students] will work with award-winning faculty members, connect with conversation partners and peer tutors, and engage with various Middle East related student organizations. Activities such as scholarly lectures, musical performances, Arabic Film Night, Arabic Coffee Hour, and other cultural events are available regularly."

This guide provides a collection of recommended resources for Arabic language and literature research such as databases, journals, books, articles, and so on. The recommendations are not comprehensive, but these resources are very likely to contain materials useful for your projects.

A few recommended online resources outside Virginia Tech

Arabic Collections Online
Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a publicly available digital library of public domain Arabic language content. ACO currently provides digital access to 17,699 volumes across 10,473 subjects drawn from rich Arabic collections of distinguished research libraries.
Digital Library of the Middle East
The Digital Library of the Middle East (DLME) offers free and open access to the rich cultural legacy of the Middle East and North Africa by bringing together collections from a wide range of cultural heritage institutions. Developed by an engineering team from CLIR and Stanford Libraries, the platform federates and makes accessible data about collections from around the world. The platform is built upon the open source Spotlight and Blacklight frameworks, and supports presentation of resources compliant with the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) using the Mirador viewer.
Internet Archive: Arabic collection
The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.
Middle East Institute: Arabic Language Resources
Founded in 1946, the Middle East Institute is the oldest Washington-based institution dedicated solely to the study of the Middle East. It is a non-partisan think tank providing expert policy analysis, educational and professional development services, and a hub for engaging with the region's arts and culture. Their mission: To increase knowledge of the Middle East among citizens of the United States and to promote a better understanding between the people of these two areas.