History:

The Department of Arabic Language and Literature was established in 1976. At the beginning, the department had four faculty members and it was directed by Dr. Ahmad Nader Nezam Tehrani. After the victory of the Islamic revolution and the establishment of the nascent Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, the Arabic department was moved to the new faculty and became a part of the Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies. In 1983, the Arabic course was resumed under the administration of the late Dr. Hossein Choubin in the two programs of the Arabic Language and Literature and the Arabic Language and Literature Teaching. The disciplines offered by the Arabic Education Department since its establishment are as follows: 1- Arabic Language and Literature 2- Arabic Language and Literature Teaching 3- Arabic Language and Literature Translation 4- Arabic Language and Literature M.A course 5- Non-continuous Religious Arabic BA course 6- Arabic Language and Literature PhD course. In 2017 and 2019 respectively, the BA and MA programs in Arabic language and literature translation were launched. Since 2019, foreign students (mostly from Iraq) have been pursuing studies at the MA and PhD levels in the faculty.

Educational Focus:

The educational focus of the department is on the Arabic language and literature, syntax, rhetoric, literary criticism, comparative literature, poetry and prose texts and Arabic translation topics.

Research Focus:

The main research focus of the department is on criticism of rhetoric as well as comparative rhetoric of literary and critical schools, basics and theories of translation. The department is capable of conducting comparative and interdisciplinary research too.

Programs of Study:

At present, the department has only one program that is the Arabic Language and Literature and the Arabic language and literature translation major at three levels.

Number of Faculty Members:

Currently, the Department of Arabic Language and Literature has 9 active members: two professors, four associate professors and three assistant professors.

Number of Students:

At present, the department engages 284 BA students, 77 MA (including non-Iranian) students and 22 PhD candidates (including non-Iranian students) and so far it has produced about 1521 alumni at the BA level, 328 at the MA level and 46 at the PhD level.

Distinctive and Competitive Advantages:

The department, in terms of having unique capabilities in southern Iran and the Khuzestan province with regard to work experience, active and retired experienced and expert professors with the ability to teach and guide dissertations related to the field in at least the two languages of Arabic and Persian, has a desirable competitive advantage at all the three study levels of university.

In addition, the geographical proximity to neighboring Arab countries adds to this advantage.