On Monday, over 70 students struggled to make their way into a Peters classroom where Professor Marie-Claude Thomas was teaching the College’s first Arabic course, over one and a half years after President Nancy Dye publicly expressed support for such a course. Throngs of students sat on the floor and even gathered in the hallway outside the classroom, eventually prompting College officials to announce the creation of a second Arabic I section.

Thomas, who currently teaches beginning Arabic I and II, has only been guaranteed a job for spring semester, but Oberlin has also begun to advertise for a two-year visiting professorship that would enable the College to offer first and second year Arabic.

The President’s office has guaranteed two and a half years of funding for the Arabic position after which, said Nick Jones, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Oberlin would evaluate whether to continue the program.

Thomas’ arrival on campus comes after several years of effort by students and faculty to develop a greater Middle Eastern and North African studies presence at Oberlin.

“It [was] a matter of timing,” Jones explained. “We basically did the best we could…Starting a new language program is very difficult and it takes a fair amount of organization to get [the program] going, and a fair amount of commitment from various people.”

Prior to Thomas’ arrival at Oberlin, French Professor Ali Yedes offered a private reading to several students interested in studying Arabic. While Yedes expressed happiness about the hiring of Thomas, he was also skeptical that it would be enough to establish a solid program.

“You need more than the basics,” explained Yedes. “[Arabic] is not just a dead language in a book… you need to use it.”

Yedes explained that a successful language program requires a professor to spend extra time outside class creating environments where students can spontaneously apply the language.

“You need a permanent, full-time position,” he said.

Citing a trend at other colleges and universities, Yedes speculated that Arabic could be moved into the department of Comparative Literature if a self-standing Arabic department is not created. In addition, Yedes suggested that Oberlin bring Fulbright scholars from Arabic-speaking countries to serve as teaching assistants for Arabic courses.

Yedes emphasized that Oberlin’s MENA program is behind those at other institutions, and he added that establishing a permanent program “becomes a necessity now,” when Arabic is “in demand.”

To improve the progress of MENA studies at Oberlin, Jones said that the College Faculty Council is working toward reconstituting a MENA committee, after it failed to meet last semester — apparently because of staffing problems.

“We hope to involve a wide number of departments and engage people and departments concerned with MENA with long-term commitments to this,” Jones said.

According to Jones, the College plans to keep the position filled by former Politics Professor Khalid Medani, who taught MENA-related courses at Oberlin before leaving in 2005. However, the position has not yet been authorized and is not being advertised.

Currently, Visiting Professor of Religion Mohammad Jafar Mahallati is offering two courses on Islam this spring in place of Professor Anna Gade, an Islamic scholar who left Oberlin at the end of last semester. Visiting Professor of Politics Lawrence Markowitz is also teaching a course relevant to the subject.

“Overall, I’m pretty optimistic about the changes…I feel like we are growing,” College senior and Arabic tutor Fadil Bayyari said. “But there are still avenues that we can improve on.”

“A MENA program needs to consist of as many humanities as possible,” explained Bayyari, who also sat on last semester’s MENA committee. “It needs to be broader, it can’t just be a course in the religion department.”