CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Linguistics and Near Eastern studies professor Samira Farwaneh works with students during an Arabic language class yesterday. Though blind since birth, Farwaneh has found life to be fully accessible and enjoys seeing the world through the art of language.

She sees the world in a different way.

She has spent her career articulating a vision of the Middle East to students. And she's been legally blind since birth.

Samira Farwaneh is an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies and linguistics in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and an assistant professor of secondary language acquisition and teaching in the College of Humanities.

Since coming to the UA in 2001, Farwaneh has taught a variety of courses, including Intermediate Arabic, Introduction to Arabic Linguistics and a TRAD course "Language and Society in the Middle East and South Asia."

Arabic and linguistics are her specialties.

"You cannot have a department of Near Eastern studies without language," Farwaneh said.

She said she strives to teach students why language works the way it works and how it relates to society.

"You must understand the language in order to understand the history, politics and culture of the region," she said.

Farwaneh said linguistics is an integral part of language acquisition because it involves analyzing and understanding how language works, and it outlines the rules that govern language.

She said classes in her program are becoming increasingly popular.

"Since Sept. 11th, enrollment in Arabic and Persian classes just skyrocketed," she said.

Farwaneh was born and raised in Kuwait, one of seven daughters of Palestinian parents.

She received a bachelor's degree in Arabic language and literature from Kuwait University.

A private fellowship enabled her to come to the United States for graduate school, and she received a master's degree in linguistics from the University of Iowa.

Although she was born legally blind, Farwaneh said she was able to rely on her residual vision until she graduated from college, by which time her vision had significantly deteriorated.

Farwaneh said she first learned braille, as well as how to type, after she arrived in the United States, as Kuwait did not have any support services available for people with disabilities at the time.

She received a Ph.D in Arabic language and linguistics from the University of Utah in 1995, where she also served as an instructor.

She spent a year teaching at the prestigious Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., and eventually made the journey to Tucson in 2001.

She said she spent the first two years at the UA as a lecturer and became an assistant professor in 2003.

Farwaneh said it is important for students to be well informed about the world they live in, particularly issues concerning the Middle East.

"This is an area of the world that plays a strategic role in world politics," she said.

Farwaneh said there are many misunderstandings about the region because of religious fundamentalism, emotionalism and ignorance, and it is crucial for Near Eastern studies programs to provide courses that will help dispel certain myths about the Middle East.

Some students said they are impressed with how much she cares about her students.

"I think she knows everything about her students," said Nadia Hamrouni, a Fullbright Scholarship student from Tunisia, Africa, in the SLAT program. She also serves as a graduate teaching assistant for Farwaneh's Intermediate Arabic class.

Hamrouni said she first heard about Farwaneh from the dean of her university in Tunisia.

"I said I have to meet this great person," Hamrouni said.

Other students appreciate her teaching style.

"She's very patient with people who don't understand something," said Sarah Malaika, a first-year graduate student in Arabic language who is enrolled in Farwaneh's Intermediate Arabic class.

Malaika said she is also impressed with how much interest Farwaneh takes in her students.

"Because she has such a good memory, she tracks our progress," Malaika said.

Ultimately, Farwaneh said she tries to present her students with a balanced view of Near Eastern cultures, emphasizing both the positive and negative aspects.

"I hope people will look at the Middle East more objectively," Farwaneh said.