For typical Bachelor of Arts students in the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA), completing language courses is required to graduate, but for students majoring in a language, it is much more than just a requirement.
The University offers 26 language programs, according to CLA’s website. Some of these include European language studies like French, German and Italian, while the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies program (AMES) allows students to study Arabic, Chinese, Hmong, Japanese and more.
Harun Mousa, a third-year student majoring in geographical information systems and AMES with an emphasis on Arabic, said the language is vital to him in many ways.