Visit of the Academy from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the "Arabic Language Month"

On Monday, 10 November 2025, the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo hosted the opening ceremony of the “Arabic Language Month” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized in cooperation with the King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language in Riyadh (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The program brought together representatives of universities, educational institutions, cultural organizations, and secondary schools, underscoring the continuity of collaboration between the academic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and partner institutions across the Arab world.

 In his address, Prof. Dr. Tarik Zaimović, Rector of the University of Sarajevo, emphasized the decades-long significance of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature and its contributions to the humanistic and philological disciplines at the University. Speaking on behalf of the partner institution, Prof. Dr. Abdullah ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Washmi, Secretary-General of the King Salman Academy, focused on the importance of linguistic and cultural exchange and on long-term modalities of institutional cooperation between the University of Sarajevo and the Academy.

The ceremony featured presentations of current activities at both the University of Sarajevo and the Academy, including plans for joint educational and research initiatives. Awards and distinctions were conferred upon top students of the Department in the categories of Arabic-language essay, recitation of Arabic poetry, and Arabic calligraphy.

In a statement to the media, Prof. Dr. Mirza Sarajkić, Head of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature, noted:

“As a Department with nearly eight decades of continuous work at the University of Sarajevo, we are proud to have co-organized this conference within the framework of Arabic Language Month. Our tradition of studying the Arabic language and culture has formed generations of teachers, translators, and researchers. With today’s program, we reaffirm our commitment to remaining connected with the most prestigious centers of Arabic language and culture, and to systematically integrating contemporary methodologies and technologies into our curriculum and research.

In this regard, cooperation with the King Salman Academy has a special place: from educational programs and teacher training, through curricular tools and the standardized ‘Hamzah’ examination, to innovative digital platforms and linguistic corpora. While we approach the current convergence of linguistics with artificial intelligence and computational linguistics with due caution, we believe that their critical and methodologically grounded inclusion advances the description of linguistic phenomena, pedagogical practice, and the responsible management of change in our sociolinguistic environment. In 2024, the Academy established the first specialized center for AI and Arabic language processing (ARAI) with five advanced laboratories (AI; data and resource preparation; acoustics and visuals; VR/AR; and a research laboratory).

I express my gratitude to Secretary-General Prof. Dr. Abdullah ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Washmi for his partnership and support, and more generally to the Government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through whose assistance the construction of the University of Sarajevo Library is nearing completion; and to Rector Prof. Dr. Tarik Zaimović and Dean Prof. Dr. Adnan Busuladžić for their institutional support. Above all, the achievements of our students confirm that the combination of tradition, international partnership, and contemporary technologies yields measurable results and obliges the Department to remain a regional anchor of excellence in the study of the Arabic language and literature.”