For anyone who has taken Arabic at Stanford, how strong is the department? How is the curriculum set up (any colloquial dialect courses?) How would you compare the quality of instruction to that of other language departments at Stanford?
The bad: Stanford does not have an Arabic major. You can minor in Middle East languages though and major in International Relations with a MECA (Middle East and Central Asia) specialty. This gives you a pretty close facsimile to an Arabic major.
The good: The Arabic profs are awesome and the course offerings are pretty impressive given the lack of a major. Our son has taken Moroccan and Palestinian dialects in addition to MSA. Even better, the non-MSA classes are usually only a few students meaning that you really get an intense one on one with the prof. In this regard the lack of an Arabic major is a blessing.
The verdict: It is unfortunate that Stanford has not seen fit to establish an Arabic major. However, even with no Arabic major (or, arguably, "because of no Arabic major) you can get some great personalized Arabic education.