These diverse interests—from exploring family roots to understanding religious texts—translate into higher enrollment in Arabic.

To accommodate the increase, Granara says the department offers four sections of 20 people and a fifth section with 10 students. Besides himself, two preceptors and one graduate student are teaching the classes.

With the second preceptor funded by the Gordon Gray endowment, the department is able to cover teaching their classes with the help of advanced graduate students, Granara says.

Granara says intermediate Arabic classes are also experiencing an increase in numbers this semester—putting an additional strain on instructors who take on extra teaching loads and grade daily homework.

“Without abandoning upper levels, I try to put as much resources into first-year [instruction],” he says.

While he says University Hall has been responsive to the department’s needs, Granara says in the future the department will have to have another preceptor.

“I understand the University’s position—you can’t fault them,” he says. But “our enrollment is going to stay like this for the next five to 10 years. There is no way out of getting a third preceptor.”

Granara says he hopes to search for a third preceptor when this semester’s classes are up and running. He expects a tough market for qualified instructors, he says, especially considering recruiting from overseas is no longer an option.

“There are more jobs [open] in Arabic language teaching than ever,” Granara says. “So we’ve got our challenges ahead.”

—Staff writer Nalina Sombuntham can be reached at sombunth@fas.harvard.edu.