For the past several years, Kenyon College and Denison University have been able to offer Begining and Intermediate Arabic classes thanks to distance-learning classrooms. The Arabic Instructor divides his or her time equally between the two insitutions, spending two days a week at each one. When he or she is at Denison, the Kenyon students follow the class using videoconferencing technology, and when he or she is at Kenyon, the Denison students do the same. By offering the class collaboratively, we have been able to add it to our curriculum much sooner than would otherwise have been the case.

It is now possible for students to take enough Arabic to be able to participate in a broad range of study abroad programs in Arabic speaking countries. The experiment between Kenyon and Denison will soon be extended to include other Ohio colleges as well. Although it is not possible to choose Arabic for a major or minor, we are hopeful that its place in our curriculum will continue to grow.