Course Spotlight: Summer 2026 Courses Help Students Toward Arabic Translation Certificate at UM-Dearborn
- Reena Hamad
- May 12
- 2 min read
At the University of Michigan-Dearborn, students of all academic backgrounds and professional pursuits have the opportunity to earn the Arabic Translation Certificate – and three courses that count toward the certificate are being offered asynchronously this summer semester.
Arabic 310, Arabic 312 and Comparative Literature 303: Arabic Novel Translation are being taught by Wessam Elmeligi, director of the Center for Arab American Studies and associate professor of Arabic. Often taken together, these courses are designed to help non-native speakers, heritage learners and native speakers strengthen their command of standard Arabic and deepen their understanding of Arabic literature and culture.
In the past, students enrolled in these courses have had the opportunity to gain practical experience by translating artifacts for the Arab American National Museum (AANM), the first and largest museum of its kind dedicated to Arab American history and culture. In Summer 2025, students translated segments of a book handwritten by a late Palestinian-American, Ahmad Ibrahim. The book is a combination of Ibrahim’s writing, photos, maps and newspaper clippings from the past several decades.
Ibrahim and his family donated the book to the AANM in 2004 after years of documenting his Palestinian village of Jimzu, which he feared would be erased and forgotten after being forcibly displaced in 1948. Although Jimzu is no longer on the map, students involved in the project found themselves feeling hopeful that their translation work could serve as a step towards both accessibility and remembrance in uncovering his story.
“We’re not just translating words; we’re helping preserve and share stories that deserve to be remembered,” said student translator Jerees Afnan about the project.
This collaboration between UM-Dearborn’s summer offerings and the AANM were largely made possible through Elmeligi’s coordination with Dr. Kyle Wynter-Stoner, the museum’s research and content manager. He said: “These students are doing very important work in helping us translate his manuscript, which is written like a diary.”
In Elmeligi’s summer comparative literature course, students learn about various topics such as feminist literary theory, narratology and postcolonial literary theory, while also becoming acquainted with classic Arab works and authors like Naguib Mahfouz and Ibn Tufayl.
Across the courses, final projects invite students to channel creativity and artistic expression through a range of mediums, including literary interpretation through painting and
Arabic-to-English caption curation.
Do you want the campus community to get an inside look at your course this summer? Email Reena Hamad at reenah@umich.edu