Yalla Bina, the new Arabic cultural and language club on campus, is putting a lot of effort into bringing awareness of Arabic culture and language to the campus community.
After only its fourth week as an official SGA-approved club, Yalla Bina already has sixteen active members, six of whom are students in the current Arabic classes offered on campus.
According to Erik Brownsword ‘10, secretary of the club, attendance continues to increase with each meeting.
The club’s strong student participation is coupled with a growth in Middle Eastern focused course offerings.
Next semester the two classes being offered are a six-credit Intensive Elementary Arabic and Arabic Literature and Culture From the Qu’ran to Mafouz and Beyond taught in English. Professor Wang is in his first year of teaching with Connecticut College and is the instructor for both Arabic classes.
He expressed that the club is “beyond my imagination” and “is doing very good things.”
The two Arabic language fellows Katherine Shabb ‘12 and Razan Khabour ‘10, international students from Lebanon and Jordan respectively, also expressed their pleasure in the formation of Yalla Bina: “it makes us happy to see new faces [involved in the Arabic program].”
An international student from Tunisia, Ikram Lakhdhar ‘13, was one of the co-founders of the club and exclaimed that she was “very happy to see it happening.”
Brownsword said that the new Arabic club is “what our school needs.” Brownsword continued to express how happy he was to see the freshmen taking initiative to start the club and become involved in the fight for a strong Arabic program. According to Brownsword, they are “building for the future.”
The club’s origins were a collaborative process. Professor Andrea Lanoux, chair of the Slavic Studies department, expressed the need for an Arabic club to Professor Wang, who in turn mentioned the possibility to his Elementary Arabic class. According to Professor Wang, the students immediately began work on a constitution for a club that would come to be called Yalla Bina.
Lakhdhar explains that the club’s purpose is to “build an understanding of our culture and promote diversity.”
By working closely with the club, Lakhdhar feels that she can become a better ambassador for her country.
Brownsword believes that the club will be “filling a void people may not have known existed.” Furthermore, the club will promote Arabic language study by being a support system for those learning or interested in learning the language.
The Arabic Language Fellows are supporters of the club and the club, in turn, supports the language fellows. By working together, progress can be made. Although language is very important, and Arabic is a first language of over 250,000,000 people, the culture of the Arabic people is also valuable to understand.
As Khabour explained, “there are a lot of misperceptions about the Arabic culture, and I want the club to help the campus understand.” Professor Wang supported this statement by explaining the ignorance the American people had of the Arabic culture before 2001.
Another purpose of the club is to help in the process of developing an academic department for Arabic, the Middle East and/or Islamic Studies. Surprisingly, classes in the Arabic language and culture began only last year as a pilot program. Shabb has said that she understands that developing a strong department is a long process. But once a department is implemented at Connecticut College, it is a very strong program, according to Professor Wang.
The club has already been an active participant in campus life.
Some exciting events coming up for the club, according to Yalla Bina member D’larys Rivera, are an evening event (to be named soon), which will be held on November 20 and will consist of teaching basic phrases in Arabic, enjoying music and watching a PowerPoint presentation highlighting student involvement in the Arab world. There will also be delicious food served for only $5.
Following this event, a trip to New York City will be made on December 4. On this trip, the group wants to visit Arabic exhibitions and restaurants to get a better feel for the culture. Last but definitely not least, the club intends to do community service projects with a group or groups associated with the Arabic culture and language. Some of the organizations being considered are: We Refuse to be Enemies, Middle East Children’s Alliance and CAIR.
The future goals of the club as explained by club president Wendy Catalina Ogando ‘13 are to host a large annual event held in the early spring which will focus on the coexistence of all cultures and nations, not just Arabic. Also, with the proper funding from alums, faculty and students, the club would like to form a scholarship, which would help students advance their knowledge of the culture and language by going to study elsewhere. The Middlebury Summer Language Program inspires the idea of this scholarship.
By bringing cultural awareness to the campus through fun yet informational events, Yalla Bina hopes to increase the desire for an Arabic/Middle Eastern/Islamic Studies academic program. Over time, the language fellows wish to see the Arabic program become as strong as the other language departments in the school.
Every Tuesday night, Yalla Bina holds its meetings in Unity House at 9 PM.
