Theories about the human origin in evolution and religion are fundamentally countering beliefs that are still debated to this day. This study continues to explore this relationship in the college population at a public university with the intention of targeting a diverse religious population. This research hopes to answer the question: does having greater literacy in evolution lead to a noninterventionist perspective on evolution? The prediction is that evidence of increased evolution comprehension will influence students to have a more agnostic, or noninterventionist, view on evolution. An evolution class was given a survey that had two parts broken into demographic and evolution sections with one question that asks about compatibility between evolution and religion. This was given twice in a single semester to track the growth of evolution knowledge and any other differences. There were 265 students in the initial survey, but only 223 responses in the post-survey. The compatibility question had 8 statements that range from creationist to atheistic perspectives and was divided into two sides: interventionist (divine involvement) and noninterventionist (deity may be present but does not intervene). More than 70% of the class had a noninterventionist perspective on evolution despite the Christian categories being the second largest group students identified with after agnostic. The agnostic statement was the top choice followed by the atheistic answer on the noninterventionist side. Lastly, there was some growth of evolution knowledge for each religious category in the evolution section but is not significant for interpretation. Based on the collected data, it is not sufficient to answer the question and requires more data collection via a longitudinal study.

Beautiful and rich in history, the Arabic language is spoken by over 422 million people. The language has significant social and political importance, and it is increasingly taught in universities around the United States. When languages are taught their aim should be not only to teach learners to communicate effectively, but also to gain a deep understanding and respect of culture, people, and history. The Al-Kitaab textbook series by Georgetown University Press is utilized as the main learning material in most universities in the United States to teach Arabic language. The highly political and negative nature of the series limits students’ comprehension to a political perspective influenced by the conflicts in the Middle East and has a severe impact on not only students’ learning ability but also their perception of the Arabic language and culture. While the series sufficiently provides the political vocabulary necessary for roles in government, it overlooks the importance of a full understanding of the cultural richness and nuances of the Arabic language necessary for an appreciation of history, arts, and literature of the region. The overarching objective of this project is to analyze the Georgetown University Press Al-Kitaab textbook series for Arabic language instruction and compare it to the Vista Higher Learning Sentieri textbook for Italian language instruction to plan a new Arabic curriculum to increase student enrollment. This comparison will explore recurring themes present in each textbook series and display the detrimental and outdated depictions of Arab culture presented throughout the Al-Kitaab series. Different aspects of the textbooks will be discussed including vocabulary and vocabulary progression, biographies of important figures, in-text activities, reading passages, and recurrent themes. Through revamping the learning materials used to teach Arabic, Arizona State University (ASU) and the School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC) can become innovative leaders in the instruction of university-level Arabic language.