To the Editor:
I read with interest your article on the new faculty at Dartmouth and was, however, surprised not to find my name there. I am Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic Language and Literature and teach First Arabic and a course on Arabic Literature in translation. I recently earned my doctorate at Harvard on Arabic Praise Poetry and previously wrote a book on the history of the Arabic script.
Although I will be on campus only for one year, I ensure the continuity of Arabic language at Dartmouth. I hold it for important that interested students are aware of that, especially in the light of faculty changes in the recent past. The department, which is very committed to Arabic, asked me to replace Professor Carol Bardenstein, currently on pregnancy leave.
I deplore the fact that the opportunity has been missed to advertise to the students the ongoing possibility to take Arabic language, especially in light of the recent Israeli-Palestinian treaties, which open the door to a broader use of Arabic by Americans in such fields as international relations, business, sociology and anthropology just to mention a few.
