As the new host of CASA, UArizona is helping train the next generation of experts in Arabic language and culture.
Every year, a fresh crop of students from across the United States are chosen as fellows of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad, or CASA. CASA fellows embark on a year of intensive study in the Middle East in pursuit of a higher command of the Arabic language and culture.
Acceptance into CASA is considered the pinnacle of Arabic training, and its graduates go on to impact the landscape of Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, as well as U.S.-Middle East policy.
In 2019, the University of Arizona was named the new host of CASA, taking over the responsibility from Harvard University. Sonia Shiri, an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, was chosen as the new director.
“This honor further solidifies the University of Arizona’s status as home to one of the best Arabic programs in the country,” said John Paul Jones III, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
The Gold Standard of Arabic Training
The Center for Arabic Study Abroad was established in 1967 to offer year-long, advanced Arabic language training, which is provided at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and, more recently, at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.
Due to COVID-19, it is unclear if or when CASA fellows will be able to travel to either program location for the 2020-2021 program year.
CASA has graduated more than 1700 alumni, who have helped define U.S.-Middle East relations for the last half-century through their work in the U.S. State Department, academic institutions, and the private sector.
CASA is represented by a consortium of 31 universities in the United States. Depending on funding and security issues, CASA accepts around 20-35 fellows a year from across the country. Eligible students are mostly graduate students with a minimum of three years of formal instruction in Arabic.
As the director of CASA, Shiri is shaping the future of the program, working with the governing board, the overseas partner institutions, and fellows. Shiri also collaborates with UArizona Global’s Study Abroad office.
“CASA is a critical program,” Shiri said. “It is widely perceived as the gold standard of Arabic training and is a highly prized, must-have experience for fellows launching into academia, government, or other professions.”
Shiri says she is committed to providing CASA fellows with rich learning experiences rooted in the culture of their Arab host environment yet fueled by cutting-edge research and efficient pedagogical practices.
Excellence in Arabic Instruction at UArizona
“CASA’s move to UArizona demonstrates that the university is a focal point for Arabic study and reinforces the decision I made to pursue my graduate work here,” said Aaron Graybill, a MENAS graduate student.
UArizona is one of only six institutions in the country selected to participate in the Arabic Flagship program, which helps undergraduate students reach superior-level fluency in Arabic. Likewise, the university is one of a few campuses that offer Arabic Project Global Officer, or Project GO, which improves the language competency, regional expertise, and intercultural communication skills of ROTC students. UArizona also offers an Arabic major and a growing Jumpstart Arabic program for high school students and incoming first-year students.
At the heart of this constellation of achievement is Sonia Shiri, who is director and principal investigator of the university’s Arabic Flagship and Project GO programs. Shiri was also elected chair of the Language Flagship Council, representing a consortium of 21 universities and eight languages.
“Dr. Shiri is an energetic and hands-on leader who succeeds in keeping the group morale high, motivating and inspiring students, instructors, and staff alike to work together to achieve levels of Arabic proficiency that are literally off the charts,” said Elizabeth Saylor, an assistant professor of Arabic at Middlebury College, who worked under Shiri’s leadership at UC Berkeley. “The CASA program, in my opinion, could not be in better hands.”
While demand for high levels of expertise in Arabic and in the region of the Middle East and North Africa has grown over the past two decades, CASA’s funding has diminished.
CASA has received support from the Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program, which, because of reductions over time, now supports tuition and stipends for 15 fellowships at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.
CASA benefits from two endowments from the Ford and Mellon Foundations, located at the American University in Cairo. Because of inflation and the increase in tuition costs, this now supports only a couple of fellowships in Egypt annually.
To better respond to this national need in Arabic and MENA regional expertise, CASA needs to grow its capacity for accepting more fellows.
Your support enables CASA to train future generations of Middle East studies faculty, State Department leaders, NGO experts, journalists, and other globally-minded professionals with an understanding of the complex politics and the rich culture and history of this region.
Your contributions would provide a source of current-use funds to address immediate priorities and enable CASA to increase the number of fellows. Larger gifts (including bequests) could be added to CASA’s small endowment to boost long-term impact.
You can donate to the program here.
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This article was part of the 2020 SBS Developments magazine.
Facts Only
* The University of Arizona is the current host of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA).
* CASA transitioned from Harvard University to the University of Arizona in 2019.
* Sonia Shiri serves as the director of CASA.
* CASA provides year-long advanced Arabic training at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.
* The program is represented by a consortium of 31 U.S. universities.
* Eligible fellows are primarily graduate students with at least three years of formal Arabic instruction.
* Annual enrollment typically ranges between 20 and 35 fellows.
* Funding is provided by the Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program and endowments from the Ford and Mellon Foundations.
* The University of Arizona also participates in the Arabic Flagship program and Project GO.
* The 2020-2021 program year faced travel uncertainty due to COVID-19.
Executive Summary
The University of Arizona now leads the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), a prestigious consortium of 31 universities dedicated to advanced Arabic language and cultural immersion. Transitioning from Harvard University in 2019, the program utilizes partner institutions in Egypt and Jordan to prepare students for high-level careers in academia, government, and the private sector. Under the direction of Sonia Shiri, the university integrates CASA with other specialized initiatives like the Arabic Flagship and Project GO to create a comprehensive ecosystem for linguistic expertise.
Despite its reputation as a premier training ground for U.S.-Middle East policy experts, CASA faces significant financial headwinds. Reductions in Fulbright-Hays funding and the eroding purchasing power of existing endowments due to inflation have limited the number of fellowships available. While there is an increasing demand for regional expertise, the program currently relies on seeking new donations and bequests to expand its capacity and sustain its impact on international relations.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is that of a critical national security and diplomatic asset struggling against budgetary attrition. It presents a clear pipeline from academic excellence to geopolitical influence, framing linguistic fluency as a prerequisite for effective statecraft and diplomacy.
This content functions as a fundraising appeal disguised as an institutional update. It employs a "prestige loop," where the program's status as the "gold standard" is used to justify the urgent need for capital. The narrative creates a tension between the "national need" for expertise and the "diminished" funding, effectively framing a donation not as a gift to a university, but as an investment in U.S. strategic capability.
Patterns detected: ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey (The piece leads with the "pinnacle of training" and "gold standard" claims, but the actual request is for basic "current-use funds" to cover tuition and stipends caused by inflation).
The underlying paradigm is the "Expert-Leader" model of diplomacy, assuming that superior linguistic and cultural command directly translates into a positive impact on policy. It echoes a mid-century approach to regional studies where a small, elite cohort of trained specialists acts as the primary bridge between the U.S. and the Middle East.
Who benefits from this model? The university gains prestige and funding; the students gain elite credentials. The second-order consequence is the professionalization of regional expertise, which can either deepen genuine understanding or create a narrow, institutionalized lens through which an entire region is viewed.
Bridge Questions:
1. Does the "gold standard" of academic immersion still provide the most effective pathway to regional expertise in a digitally connected world?
2. How does the reliance on private endowments for national strategic needs affect the independence of these academic programs?
Counterstrike Scan: An influence campaign would use this narrative to signal the "indispensability" of a specific institutional gatekeeper to ensure continued government funding. The actual content is a standard university development piece and does not match the structural patterns of a coordinated influence operation.
Sentinel — Human
The text functions as a report detailing the history, structure, and funding challenges of the CASA program, utilizing attributed quotes from involved academics to frame the importance of the initiative.