Clayton Clark, a graduating M.F.A. student in Creative Writing and Translation, was awarded a fellowship by the Center for Arabic Study Abroad that will allow him to undertake a year of intensive Arabic language study in Amman, Jordan.

The Center for Arabic Study Abroad was established in 1967 to offer intensive advanced Arabic language training at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Since its inception, the center has trained more than 1,406 upper level undergraduates, graduates, and professors specializing in various areas of Middle Eastern Studies. For 2014-15, an additional 22 fellows are participating in CASA I, a 12-month intensive Arabic language and culture program, at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.   

"CASA alumni constitute a virtual 'who's who' of people teaching Arabic and Middle East studies in this country," notes Joel Gordon, Director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies. "So Clayton will be in very good company. This is a feather in his cap, as well as for the UA Arabic program." 

Clark graduated magna cum laude from the U of A in 2012 with a B.A. in journalism and Middle East studies and a minor in Arabic, supported with a scholarship from the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies. Currently he is completing a 3-year graduate assistantship from the King Fahd Center. He teaches Intensive Arabic courses with professors Adnan and Paula Haydar, and recently defended his Master of Fine Arts thesis translation of short stories by Syrian author Zakaria Tamer, two of which were published in a recent edition of Banipal Magazine of Modern Arabic Literature. He is also working on translations of texts by Mauritanian author Fayyeza Bint Muhammad Abdullah, and 'A al-Barakeh, a book on Lebanese culture and traditions by Joseph Abee Dhaher. 

About the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies: The King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies is an academic and research unit in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. An interdisciplinary and interdepartmental area studies center that offers diverse cultural, intellectual, and educational opportunities for the University of Arkansas community, it promotes research and teaching in interdisciplinary Middle East studies. The center offers an undergraduate major in Middle East Studies and supports graduate studies in related departments through the Middle East Studies Program, as well as summer language study and research assistantships for graduate students and teaching and research by visiting scholars from affiliated universities and programs.  More information about the King Fahd Center can be found at mest.uark.edu. For ongoing news, follow the center on Facebook and Twitter.