<p>Just off the top of my head, I believe Brandeis has one of the top Arabic programs in the country. As does Harvard. Don’t know anything about your specific questions, but wife has a friend who graduated from both those programs with degrees in Semitic languages and now works as a translator in the Middle East.</p>
<p>(At least that’s what she claims. She may be CIA, NSA, or Mossad for all I know.)</p>