Home Schools & Departments

Department of Italian and Arabic Studies

The Department of Italian and Arabic Studies was founded in 2012 and offers two undergraduate programs: Arabic (established in 2005) and Italian (established in 2006). These are the only programs of their kind in Liaoning Province. It is also the only department authorized to award MA degrees in the Arabic language in the province.

The Department of Italian and Arabic Studies is served by an excellent faculty of twenty-one members (including two professors, three associate professors and two native-language experts), all highly competent, collegial, efficient and committed. In addition, the department regularly invites senior professors from Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing Language and Culture University and the University of International Business and Economics to be MA advisors or to give lectures.

The Department of Italian and Arabic Studies is dedicated to the cultivation of internationally-minded language professionals who are able to apply their skills in a variety of fields and across different disciplines through an emphasis on holistic development, concrete knowledge of relevant fields, good language proficiency and an innovative spirit. The department has achieved much success through constantly improving its curricula and pedagogy and through developing cooperative exchanges. An integrated curricular system prioritizes language teaching, supplemented by courses concerning culture, diplomacy, translation, trade and business. One indication of the success of the department’s approach is the annual improvement in results in the Test for Arabic Majors, the pass rates and average scores for which are consistently the best nationwide. Our students have also won many prizes in various national competitions.

Prolific achievements have also been made in academic publications and research. In the past five years, we have published close to twenty textbooks and translations as well as undertaken a provincial-level research project. Fostering innovation and creativity is a key focus of the department and three provincial research projects have also been undertaken to explore this. Professor Li Weizhong is recognized as a pioneer for translating The Story of Antara into Chinese. His translation is also the only complete Chinese version in the world, thus addressing a significant gap in world translation history.

The Department of Italian and Arabic Studies cherishes its cooperative programs with overseas universities. Apart from regular contact with and visits from foreign experts and VIPs, it has also established friendly ties with Cairo University (Egypt), the University of Carthage (Tunis), as well as the University of Bologna and the University of Bergamo (Italy), through which juniors are able to complete a year or more of their studies abroad. Through close ties with Arabic Division of China Radio International,CCTV Arabic Channel and the Arabic Division of Chinanet, the department provides internship opportunities, the recipients of which have received positive feedback for their performance.

Graduates of the Department of Italian and Arabic Studies are popular with the employers for their language proficiency and practical skills. The employment rate remains as high as 100%. Enterprises directly supervised by SASAC of the State Council annually recruit employees from our department and approximately half of our graduates have been employed in state-owned enterprises or public institutions. Others may choose to further their studies or become public servants.

Website for the Department of Italian and Arabic Studies:http://ru.dlufl.edu.cn