Demirjian became interested in studying Arabic not only because she is considering a career in foreign service, but because her parents grew up in Lebanon and Syria.

“I am a senior in college and I wanted to learn the language at some point,” she says. “It seemed to be the right time because it’s becoming so much more of an important language to know in this day and age, and the course was there.”

But she also says that Sept. 11 was a catalyst in her decision to take the course.

“I really think [the increased enrollment] has to do with Sept. 11 and all the turmoil in the Middle East,” she says. “That definitely kicked me over the edge.”

Maria-Helene van Wagenberg ’04, a Crimson editor, is also taking Arabic because of a family connection.

“It wasn’t a decision I made in reaction to recent political instability in the Middle East,” she says. “It’s just because my mom is from Lebanon and I want to travel there after I graduate.”

For Wasim W. Quadir ’03, who is Muslim, the decision to study Arabic stemmed from his belief that some of the beauty of the Quran is lost in translation. Many scholarly Islamic texts that he wants to read remain untranslated, Quadir says.

Quadir also says he saw this year as his last opportunity to study Arabic.

“I sort of regret not taking it as a freshman. I think I would have got more out of it if I had,” he says.

Quadir, who is also president of the Harvard Islamic Society (HIS), says he recognized some of the people in his Arabic A section as members of HIS.

“I’m not surprised that there are a lot of Muslims in the class. I think they are taking it for the same reason that I am—to increase their own understanding of the religion,” he says.

Many of his Muslim classmates, Quadir says, are first-years who are just more on the ball than he was.

Granara says the first-year Arabic language text offers insight into the Arabic family structure, the system of education and food.

“The cultural component is a strong subtext to the language. We find that the excitement of language study is in the culture,” he says.

Challenges Ahead