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,
Best summer greetings to everyone who is traveling, relocating, or otherwise enjoying the summer.
Speaking of relocating, has your address changed since last summer? If so, please help us get your membership materials to you in a timely fashion.
Last month, you should have received two email messages from the AATA Business Office. One contained your username, the other your password. Using your username and password, you can check and, if necessary, update your contact information on the AATA website (http://www.aataweb.org/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fmembers%2fDefault.aspx). If this link does not work for you, please go to the homepage at www.aataweb.org. From there, you can click on “Current AATA members – Update your membership information”.
If for some reason (such as spam filters), these messages have not reached you, please contact the AATA Business Office (info@aataweb.org). They will be happy to help you stay current.
You will also receive your membership renewal form shortly, together with the ballot for new members of the AATA Executive Board. The membership renewal forms will be sent via US Mail. In the meantime, you are welcome to renew your membership on line at http://aataweb.org/Default.aspx?pageID=11.
As you may remember, AATA has an agreement with Georgetown University Press to distribute The Teaching of Arabic As a Foreign Language: Issues and Directions, edited by Mahmoud Al-Batal. The work has not been available during the transition, but we were delighted to receive this message from Georgetown University Press this week:
“The inventory has now officially been received at the Georgetown University Press warehouse, which is ready to fulfill orders. This will not be up on our website until August, but it can be ordered by calling 1-800-537-5487, or (outside the US) 410-516-6965. Basic how-to ordering information is at:
The price is $34.95; the ISBN is 978-0-9621530-9-9.”
And as you look to the fall, please don’t forget that the AATA Annual Meeting will take place on Saturday, 22 November in conjunction with the Middle East Studies Association meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. We look forward to seeing you at the AATA Panel, “Arabic Heritage Programs in the US: Problems and Solutions.” The AATA Business Meeting will follow the panel. Please plan to join your colleagues at the Business Meeting to honor the recipient of the 2008 AATA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Looking ahead to July and August, these are likely to be quiet months for the AATA Newsletter. So we are pleased to announce the First AATA Newsletter Summer Contest. Help your colleagues to find new resources for teaching or research. To enter, send an email to admin@aataweb.org. Your message should contain the name and a brief (100 word) description of a resource you recommend for classroom teaching. The winner, to be chosen at random, will receive her or his choice of a back issue of Al-‘Arabiyya: the Journal of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic. Selected resources will be included in July and August issues of the AATA Newsletter.
With best wishes,
Elizabeth M. Bergman, Ph.D.
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
Abdesalam Soudi, University Of Pittsburgh
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.
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Did you know that he got his B.A. in Japanese?
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Did you know that his M.A. is in Spanish?
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Did you know that his Ph.D. is in Linguistics?
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Did you know that he published a grammar of Kurdish 1n 1958?
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Did you know that he was a team captain for Allied Translating and Interpreting Services at Allied Headquarters in Tokyo in WWII?
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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