The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) offers a number of distinct graduate programs in different fields of study, all of which are concerned in some way with the peoples and civilizations of the Near East.

There may be significant changes to the structure of the NELC program offerings. Applicants are encouraged to visit the NELC website at www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc for updated information as it becomes available. Currently, department programs fall into the following 11 areas: Akkadian and Sumerian Studies, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Archaeology of the Levant, Armenian Studies, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Indo-Muslim Culture, Iranian and Persian Studies, Jewish Studies, Semitic Philology, Turkish Studies,and Yiddish Language and Literature.

Resources *SUBJECT TO CHANGE*

Harvard’s library resources in the various fields of Near Eastern Studies are virtually unparalleled. Widener Library, for example, has vast holdings in Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, and Yiddish literature. The reading rooms of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Andover-Harvard Theological Library of the Harvard Divinity School also have excellent resources available to students. Also at the Divinity School is the Center for the Study of World Religions.

Students wishing to specialize in modern Near Eastern political or social studies should familiarize themselves with the resources and personnel of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, as well as the Islamic Legal Studies Program at the Harvard Law School. Those interested in Jewish studies should become familiar with the resources and personnel of the Center for Jewish Studies.

The Harvard Semitic Museum, in which the department is housed, has a superb collection of ancient and medieval artifacts representing many of the cultures of the Near East. As a University teaching museum, the Semitic Museum is committed to providing access to these materials for study and teaching. For students interested in Biblical or other ancient Near Eastern studies, or in the archaeology of the Near East, a variety of opportunities for archaeological work in the Middle East are available, including the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon.

NELC offers many resources in addition to those listed above. For further details, please contact the department (nelc@fas.harvard.edu ) or visit NELC online at www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc .

Fields of Study

Akkadian and Sumerian Studies: Students in this field focus on Akkadian and/or Sumerian languages, literature, and history. Applicants are normally expected to have studied at least one Semitic language at the time of application. Course work is aimed at providing a solid linguistic and historical basis for advanced study of ancient texts in their -original form. Students working in this field sometimes choose to combine their interest with the study of ancient Israel in the biblical period (see below: Hebrew Bible).

For program details and requirements, please visit
www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/akkadian.html.

Arabic and Islamic Studies: Arabic and Islamic studies emphasize the “classical” medieval period and attempt to give an integral view of Islamic culture in premodern times. Within this general frame-work the student will normally focus on one of the following fields: Arabic language and literature, Islamic religion, intellectual history (especially philosophy, history of science, and mysticism), institutional history, and Islamic law. A good grounding in classical Arabic is a prerequisite for all other pursuits. Modern Standard Arabic and Colloquial (Levantine) are taught as service courses.

For program details and requirements, please visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/arab_islam.html .

Archaeology of the Levant: Students will study the archaeology of the Levant from -earliest times through late antiquity. Emphasis will focus on the material culture of various periods and the applicability of archaeological evidence to the reconstruction of the history of the ancient Near East. Students will be expected to become competent in Semitic languages as well as in the history of the area. Specialization and/or combination of related fields can be arranged.

For program details and requirements, please visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/archaeology.html.

Armenian Studies: Armenian can be pursued as an independent field, though it is generally recommended that specialists also acquire competence in another subject as well, such as Iranian Studies, Indo-European Linguistics, Comparative Religion, Art History, or Islamic (especially Turkic) Studies. The offerings in the department focus on Armenian language, literature, and cultural history of all periods, depending on students’ needs.

For program details and requirements, please visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/armenian.html.

Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: The program of study in the Hebrew Bible is itself subdivided into different specializations, in recognition of the fact that students generally wish to define their interest in Bible in terms of various related disciplines and fields. Students are thus asked to choose among the following paths of specialization: Bible and the History of Israel (concentrating in either the preexilic or postexilic periods); Bible and Archaeology; Bible and Semitic Philology; Bible and Theology/History of Exegesis (concentrating in either theology or the history of exegesis). While each of these specializations offers its own options, all require a common core of 13 half-year courses, ensuring that all graduates will share a basic grounding in biblical Hebrew and related -languages, the background and methods of modern biblical scholarship, and in the history of biblical Israel in its ancient Near Eastern context.

For program details and requirements, please visit
www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/hebrewbible.html.

Indo-Muslim Culture: Indo-Muslim study deals with the culture and literature of the Muslims in the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent and offers courses in Urdu, Sindhi, Gujarati, the history of Islam in the subcontinent, Islamic literatures of Indo-Pakistan, and readings of Arabic and Persian texts concerning the area, as well as an introduction to Sufism and to Islamic calligraphy. Special emphasis is given to a solid knowledge of the Persian tradition, but a knowledge of Arabic is deemed necessary to fulfill all requirements. Literary and religious traditions, as well as the cross-relations with Indo-Muslim art, form an important part of the program.

For program details and requirements, please visit
www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/indomuslim.html.

Iranian and Persian Studies: This field has two programs. The Persian program covers New Persian language and literature and Islamic studies. For entry into this program, some undergraduate work in Arabic and in the history and culture of the Islamic world are recommended. The Iranian program primarily covers the pre-Islamic Iranian languages and literatures (notably, Avestan, Old and Middle Persian, and the Central Asian languages Sogdian and Khotanese) and religions (Zoroastrianism and Manicheism). It targets mainly students also interested in the ancient Near East, Old Indic and comparative linguistics, and ancient religions. Some familiarity with ancient languages is useful. Doctoral candidates will present at least three minor fields for the General Examinations and will prepare a dissertation in the Persian or Iranian field subject to approval by a committee of the department.

For program details and requirements, please visit
www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/iranian_persian.html.

Jewish Studies: The program in Jewish studies focuses on the history and literature of the Jewish people from late antiquity to modern times. While students generally choose to focus their interests chronologically, with the bulk of recent graduates having specialized in the medieval, early modern, and modern periods, the program itself stresses “vertical” competence: all students are required to gain some competence in chronological periods other than their main one, and in general some ability to work with classical Hebrew sources is a prerequisite for admission to the -program. As an alternative to specialization by chronological period, students may choose to focus their studies along thematic lines, for example on the history of Jewish biblical exegesis.

For program details and requirements, please visit
www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/jewish.html.

Semitic Philology: A candidate in this field studies the comparative and historical grammar of the Semitic languages. Prerequisites for admission to the program are competence in one Semitic language and some training in either linguistics or another Semitic language. Course work is aimed at bringing the student’s knowledge of one branch of Semitic to an advanced level, at providing familiarity with the other branches, and at reviewing the comparative and historical study of these languages.

For program details and requirements, please visit
www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/semiticphilology.html.

Turkish Studies: The program of study in Turkology is subdivided into four main fields: 1) Comparative Turkology — Old Turkic, Otto-man, and three of the new Turkic languages, including Chagatai (Mongolian may also be considered). 2) Central Asian philology — Old Turkic, Old Uighur, Sogdian and/or Sanskrit. 3) Ottoman studies — Ottoman Turkish, Ottoman palaeography, literary or -historical fields. 4) Turkish history, literature and/or folklore — Turkey-Turkish and two Central Asian Turkic languages should be taken as the basis (e.g., Uzbek, Kazakh, Kirgiz). General prerequisites are the knowledge of Turkey-Turkish and a reading knowledge of Russian and German.

For program details and requirements, please visit
www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/turkish.html.

Yiddish Language and Literature: The program in Yiddish specializes in modern Yiddish literature and cultural history, with additional offerings in literature of the premodern period. Reading knowledge of Hebrew as well as Yiddish is normally a prerequisite for admission. Through a rotating series of courses, students will be exposed to the works of the major Yiddish writers and to the main genres of Yiddish literature. Depending on their interests, they may combine this program with related studies in modern Jewish history, Hebrew literature, and modern Jewish thought.

For program details and requirements, please visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/yiddish.html.

The Department is also home to Harvard’s Modern Hebrew Language Program. Although not a degree-granting, the program offers four levels of Modern Hebrew language, and a variety of courses on modern Hebrew literature and contemporary Israeli culture: prose, poetry, popular Israeli music, films, theater, dance, the visual arts, TV programs, the media—news, radio, TV, and the press, and a comparison amongst them. For more details, please visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/modernhebrewstud.html .

General Rules

In addition to the specific requirements of each program, there are general rules governing all masters and doctoral programs within the department. These are summarized below. Please note: An expanded list of departmental requirements is contained in the GSAS Hand-book. All students in the department are responsible for meeting the requirements as put forth here and in the GSAS Handbook.

Advising — All incoming NELC graduate students are assigned a committee, comprised of three faculty members, which will help orient them to the Department and to Harvard. Students will meet with the committee during their orientation to NELC and throughout the first year as needed.

In their consultations with these faculty members, students have a right to expect assistance in planning their course of study and in developing an awareness of the overall structure of their program. At the beginning of each semester, students and advisors should agree on meeting times allowing the students regularly to bring their concerns and questions before their advisors and the advisors to monitor the student’s progress.

Master of Arts (AM)

The AM degree is a terminal degree.

Prerequisites for Admission — The bachelor’s degree (AB). Before seeking admission to the department, applicants will normally have attained a basic knowledge of a Near Eastern language central to their field of concentra-tion. In addition, advanced reading knowledge of French or German is normally required before admission. GRE is required.

Residence — There is a minimum residence requirement of one year. The AM degree is designed to be completed in one year. However, students may elect to complete the degree over two years. The student’s advisor must submit a letter of explanation to the department should the student require more than two years to complete the AM degree.

Program of Study — The advising committee must approve the student’s program of study at the time of registration. One of the members of the department will act as primary advisor. The AM degree is awarded upon completion with passing grade (B or above)
of at least eight and no more than twelve half-courses, of which at least two must be seminars or their equivalents, and upon completion of any additional requirements of the individual program.

General Field Requirements — Each field of study has particular course requirements. These are specified in the field’s written program description, both basic requirements and optional requirements for various directions within the field. Students are expected to consult with the advisor(s) in their fields concerning these requirements.

Languages of Modern Scholarship —
Advanced reading knowledge of either French or German is ordinarily required before admission. The student will be tested on that language at the beginning of the first semester. If the competence level is insufficient, the student is expected to pass the departmental French/German exam at the end of the first semester. In some fields, knowledge of an additional language may be required. The level of competence in the second language will be determined by the student’s advisor(s).

Satisfactory Progress — At the end of every fall term, the faculty discusses the progress of each student; if there are problems, a letter is sent to the student at that time. At the end
of every spring semester, the faculty again reviews the progress of each graduate student and, in accordance with Graduate School policy, assigns a status of “satisfactory,” “grace,” or “unsatisfactory.” The terms “grace” and “unsatisfactory” are defined in the GSAS Handbook (www.gsas.harvard.edu).

Thesis — Students will submit an AM paper, the subject and scope of which will be determined in consultation with their advisor.

Financial Aid — The department does not provide tuition fellowships for terminal AM candidates; therefore, candidates must be self-supporting or must seek funding from outside sources.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The NELC Department reserves the right to alter all guidelines and information listed below. Please see the NELC website (www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc) for the most current program requirements.

The purpose of the degree is to certify that the student has become proficient in the study of Near Eastern languages and civilizations and has proved able to carry on independent research in a chosen field of investigation. The requirements for this degree are as follows.

Prerequisites for Admission — The AM degree (see above), or an equivalent level of competence, is desirable. Before seeking admission to the department, applicants will normally have attained an ability to read and comprehend sources in the Near Eastern language central to their field of concentration. GRE is required. In addition, advanced reading knowledge of French or German is normally required before admission to a doctoral program; the student will be tested prior to the first week of classes in the first term.

The First Two Years:

Courses: Doctoral candidates are required to complete a minimum of sixteen half-courses or the equivalent. Particular requirements of certain fields of study may require additional coursework.

Incompletes: It is the rule of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations that no graduate student shall be permitted more than one grade of Incomplete per term (exceptions granted only in extreme cases). The student must complete the work of the course for which an Incomplete was granted within the following term and a letter grade will be recorded. Otherwise the Incomplete will stand in the student’s permanent record. No more than two permanent Incompletes will be permitted, nor will any permanent Incomplete be allowed for a required course. If a student accumulates more than two permanent Incompletes, the student will be required to withdraw, unless the faculty determines by a two-thirds majority vote that extraordinary circumstances warrant a waiver.

GSAS Requirements: In addition to departmental requirements, students are responsible for meeting the ‘Common Requirements’ set forth in the GSAS Handbook (http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/ ).

The following schedule for satisfactory progress is based on a timeline that leads up to dissertation completion no later than G-7, which will enable students who entered in 2005 or later to qualify for the Dissertation Completion Grant described below.

General Field Requirements: Each field of study has particular course requirements. These are specified in the field’s written program description, both basic requirements and optional requirements for various directions within the field. Students are expected to consult with the advisor(s) in their fields concerning these requirements.

Language Study Requirements: Students are expected to consult with their advisors concerning the corpus of texts required and the scope of the examinations; the advisors are expected to provide the students with clear and comprehensive information.
The major language of the students’ field of research is normally one of the fields of the General Examinations.

In addition, all students are expected to have or acquire knowledge of a second departmental language. The minimum level of competence expected in this requirement is a grade of B in the final examination of a second-year course in the language. Instead of such language coursework, a student may demonstrate the equivalent level of competence in a required language by taking a special examination administered by a member of the faculty.

If a second departmental language is included in the General Examinations, the level of competence will be significantly greater than that required in a second-year language course examination.

Languages of modern scholarship: Advanced reading knowledge of either French or German is a requirement for admission. The student will be tested on that language at the beginning of the first semester. If the competence level is insufficient, the student is expected to pass the departmental French/German exam at the end of the first semester. An examination in the second language must be passed by the end of the first year. If the language exams are not passed by the second year, the student will be asked to withdraw.

Note: Courses in the languages of modern scholarship do not count toward the required sixteen half-courses or the equivalent (see above).

Satisfactory Progress: A prospective third-year student must have achieved a minimum grade point average of “B” up to that point. At the end of every fall term, the faculty discusses the progress of each student; if there are problems, a letter is sent to the student at that time. At the end of every spring semester, the faculty again reviews the progress of each graduate student and, in accordance with graduate school policy, assigns a status of “satisfactory,” “grace,” or “unsatisfactory.” The terms “grace” and “unsatisfactory” are defined in the GSAS Handbook (http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/).

Year Three:

Teaching: Teaching is not required during the first two years of study. Only under the most unusual circumstances is a student allowed to teach before the third year of study.

If designated as part of the student’s financial package, teaching fellowships begin in the fall term of the third year and extend through the spring term of the fourth year at a rate of two sections (2/5) per semester. The department will assist the student in securing teaching fellowships. Priority for teaching fellow positions is given to students in their third through fifth years of graduate study.

Additional resources for teaching fellows may be found at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning: http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/TFs.html.

General Examinations: By the end of the third year and no later than at the end of the fall term of the fourth year, a student must have passed the General Examinations. These generally consist of written and oral General Examinations in four fields:

(a) the major field of concentration;

(b) that field’s major language(s);

(c) and (d) two related fields, although the exact configuration of these exams should be determined by the student’s advisory committee in consultation with the student. The students’ advisors are expected to assist the students in preparing for the General Examinations by defining as closely as is deemed useful the scope of the examinations and indicating the literature the students are expected to have read and the degree of familiarity with this literature that is expected.

The four written General Examinations are administered over a two-week period. After the written General Examinations, there will be an oral examination covering the same area as the written ones, as well as other aspects of the student’s program.

Take-home examinations may be substituted at the discretion of the student’s advisor.

If a student fails the General Examinations, permission to repeat all or parts of them is not automatically granted, but is considered in each individual case by the examining committee.

If permission to repeat the General Examinations is not granted, the student will be offered the possibility of taking an A.M, if the appropriate conditions are met.

Each program in the department determines its own timing of General Examinations, in consultation with the department’s Administration. Specifically, each program chooses between a floating general examination schedule (individual students will be examined when they are deemed prepared for the examinations) and a fixed general examination schedule (students will be examined during one of two set times during the academic year - November or May). Students whose program uses the fixed schedule may take their exams only on the two assigned dates. To date, the Hebrew Bible is the only program to use the fixed schedule.

[The form of the General Exams is currently being revised. Please consult the Department for the latest updates.]

Year Four:

By the end of the fourth year (beginning of the fifth), that is, normally within one year of the General Examinations, a student must have obtained approval of a Dissertation Prospectus in order to show satisfactory progress-.

Dissertation Prospectus: After the successful completion of the General Examinations, the students will consult with their advisors to choose a topic for their Dissertation and a Prospectus Committee consisting of at least three Harvard faculty members.

During the writing of the Prospectus, which is normally the students’ first attempt at serious academic writing, students and advisors are expected to interact closely, the advisors being expected to guide the students with respect to planning and bibliographical research. Often, the principal advisor is the one most closely involved in the early stages and will decide when a draft should be submitted to the other members of the committee. The advice of the members of the Committee normally results in the need for several drafts of the Prospectus over a number of weeks.

When the Prospectus is approved by the entire Prospectus Committee, it will be submitted to the faculty of the Department at least one week in advance of its presentation by the Committee at a regularly scheduled Department meeting. (A tentative schedule of Department meetings is circulated each September, and the student coordinator has the list of regular Department Faculty.) The student is responsible for the copying and distribution of the Prospectus and must bear all costs associated with that responsibility.

Acceptance of the Prospectus then requires a majority vote of the members present. Not infrequently, a Prospectus is not accepted in its present form and is then sent back with the Department’s comments (before or after the Department meeting) for further revisions. Sometimes the Department accepts the Prospectus contingent upon specific changes being made.

Form of the Prospectus:

• The Prospectus should include a title page listing the name of the members of the Prospectus Committee, specifying principal advisor.
• The Prospectus should conform (as later also the Dissertation) to the standards in scholarly writing within the field in terms of style, including transliteration, transcription, and translation of ancient languages and the form of footnotes, references, and bibliographies.

Contents of the Prospectus: The Prospectus is expected to contain the following information about the projected Dissertation:

 

• The nature of the problem that the student intends to study. 
• Its importance to the overall field of study in which the student is working.    
• A broad review of scholarship on the question being examined, such as: a. Which (principal) scholars have dealt with this or similar issues? b. What, in the student’s opinion, remains to be done? (i.e., why is the student writing this particular dissertation?). 
• A discussion of the methodologies the student will use to tackle the problem (i.e., how does the student intend to argue the point?).
• An outline of each of the chapters; if there are foreseeable difficulties in gathering the material necessary, this should also be noted.
• A schedule of approximate dates for submission of first drafts of each chapter. - A brief, summary Bibliography. - Tablet samples should be included with prospectus submissions where applicable. The length of the prospectus should not exceed approximately 3000 words (for text, footnotes, and schedule inclusive; brief bibliography not inclusive.

Year Five and Beyond:

Dissertation Progress: After the Acceptance of the Prospectus, if so desired and accepted by the Department, non-Harvard members (usually not more than one) may be included on the Dissertation Committee as secondary advisors.

Students are expected to complete their dissertations by the end of their seventh year. This is the last for which they may receive funding, except as noted below. The faculty is the final arbiter of what constitutes satisfactory progress.

In order to make satisfactory progress on the dissertation, the student must submit and have approved at least one chapter of the dissertation by the end of the first year after the approval of the Prospectus (ordinarily by the end of the 5th year).

Dissertation Completion Grant:

Beginning with the cohort entering in 2005-06, students are guaranteed five years of funding: the first four years plus a Dissertation Completion Grant awarded to qualified PhD candidates. This grant will be available as early as G-4 and as late as G-7. After G-7, the grant is no longer guaranteed. Only in “well-documented, truly extraordinary circumstances,” may this grant be available to G-8 students. The deadline for applying for this grant will be in early March. In order to be eligible, the student must have two advanced draft chapters of the Dissertation completed and approved by the primary advisor.

G-10 Enrollment Cap: Students still in the program in the tenth year should plan to finish that year or else withdraw from the program. They may reapply for admission when they have completed their dissertation.

Dissertation Defense: Following are the rules for completing the PhD Program:

• When the dissertation is complete, it is to be read by a jury of at least three readers, two of whom must be members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
• Copies are to be submitted to each of the readers, as well as one to the department, at least two months before the date on which the degree is to be awarded and at least one month before the date of the dissertation defense.     
• The student will be asked to defend the dissertation orally after it has been read, at least one month before the degree is to be awarded.     
• The date and time of the dissertation defense will be announced in writing to the entire faculty of the department and all will be invited to attend.     
• The student may then be required to revise parts of the Dissertation according to comments made by the advisors, occasionally also other faculty, before submitting a final version.    
• The student is responsible for having spiral-bound (or hard-bound if the student desires) copies of the final Dissertation made. One copy should be deposited with the Department, to be placed in the departmental library, and one with the Registrar.Students are themselves responsible for meeting all GSAS degree application deadlines and for submitting their final dissertations. Schedules (as well as advice) are available in the NELC office and the Registrar’s office (20 Garden Street, room 109).

Admissions

Admissions and financial aid information
is available from the Admissions Office, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Byerly Hall, 2nd floor, 8 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. We encourage online submission of the application. See https://apply.embark.com/grad/Harvard/GSAS.

Faculty

Jay M. Harris, Harry Austryn Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies, Chair. Modern Jewish cultural history and ancient Judaism.

Irit Aharony, Preceptor in Modern Hebrew. Modern Hebrew language and literature.

M. Shahab Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies

Helga Anetshofer-Karateke, Preceptor in Ottoman.

James Alan Armstrong, Lecturer on the Ancient Near East. Mesopotamian -archaeology.

Ali S. Asani, Professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Civilizations. Islam and Indo-Muslim studies, and Swahili.

Mostafa Atamnia, Preceptor in Modern Arabic on the Ali Abdul Rahman Alturki Endowment.

Taroob Boulous, Preceptor in Arabic.

J. F. Coakley, Senior Lecturer on Syriac. Syriac language and literature, church history.

Shaye J. D. Cohen, Littauer Professor of Jewish Studies. Judaism in antiquity, development of Rabbinic law.

Michael Coogan, Visiting Lecturer on Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

John Lee Ellison, Lecturer on Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Classical Hebrew and epigraphy.

Sayed Abdallah Elsisi, Preceptor in Modern Arabic.

William A. Graham Jr., Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of the History of Religion. Islamic studies, classical Arabic texts.

William Granara, Professor of the Practice of Arabic (Director of Undergraduate Studies). Arabic language and literature.

Rachel Greenblatt, Instructor in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Anna Grinfeld, Preceptor in Modern Hebrew. Modern Hebrew language and literature.

Jeffrey Gurock, Joseph Engel Visiting Professor in American Jewish History (Yeshiva University) (fall term only)

Jo Ann Hackett, Professor of the Practice of Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy. Biblical Hebrew, Northwest Semitic epigraphy, Semitic philology, women’s studies.

Paul Hanson, Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity (Divinity School).

Wolfhart P. Heinrichs, James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic. Arabic philology, medieval and classical Arabic literature.

John Huehnergard, Professor of Semitic Philology. Semitic languages and
linguistics, Assyriology.

Susan M. Kahn, Lecturer on Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Hakan T. Karateke, Senior Preceptor in Ottoman and Modern Turkish.

Miri Kubovy, Professor of the Practice of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Modern Hebrew language and literature.

Jon Levenson, Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies (Divinity School).

Peter B. Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages, Director of Undergraduate Studies. Hebrew Bible, study of ancient Israel, ancient Mesopotamia, history of the ancient Near East.

Khaled Al-Masri, Preceptor in Arabic.

Avi Matalon, Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies. Modern Hebrew literature and the study of translation.

Susan L. Miller, Senior Lecturer on Islamic Studies.

Khaled El-Rouayheb, Professor of Islamic Intellectual History.

James R. Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies. Armenian language, Armenian studies.

Richard Saley, Lecturer on Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

John Schoeberlein, Lecturer on Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Bernard Septimus, Jacob E. Safra Professor of Jewish History and Sephardic Civilization. Sephardic Jewish history and literature, Jewish studies.

Andrea Seri, Lecturer on Assyriology.

P. Oktor Skjaervo, Aga Khan Professor of Iranian. Old Iranian language, literature, and religion.

Lawrence E. Stager, Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel. Syro-Palestinian archaeology, Hebrew Bible.

Piotr Steinkeller, Professor of Assyriology. Sumerian and Akkadian languages, Mesopotamian history and religion.

Wheeler M. Thackston Jr., Professor of the Practice of Persian and Other Near Eastern Languages. Persian language and literature, Turkish studies, Arabic.

Carl S. El-Tobgui, Preceptor in Arabic. Yuri Vedenyapin, Preceptor in Yiddish.

Ruth R. Wisse, Harvard College Professor and Professor of Yiddish Literature and of Comparative Literature. Yiddish language and literature, Jewish studies.

Dalia Yasharpour, Preceptor in Persian.

Steven J. Zipperstein, Gerard Weinstock Visiting Professor of Jewish History (Stanford University) (fall term only)

Other Faculty Offering Courses in the Department

Ofer Bar-Yosef, George Grant MacCurdy and Janet G. B. MacCurdy Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology (Department of Anthropology)

Roy Mottahedeh, Gurney Professor of History (Department of History).

Jonathan Schofer, Assistant Professor of Comparative Ethics (Divinity School).