Doctor of Philosophy in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

The PhD in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures aims to educate and mentor scholars and teachers of the languages and cultures of the Middle East with the depth to support a sustained research career and the breadth to teach a range of courses on Middle Eastern topics.  Students learn to design and execute research projects that will help redefine the frontiers of discovery in their field.  Teaching experience helps prepare them to communicate new knowledge to experts and non-experts alike. 

In applying to the program, students select a field of study from among the following:  Arabic Studies, Hebrew Studies (Biblical or Modern), Persian Studies, Middle Eastern Literatures, Semitic Languages and Linguistics, or Islamic Studies.  Through the course of their studies, they develop methodological expertise in at least one of the following areas:  textual analysis, literary theory, linguistic theory, or cultural theory.  During their first year, students choose or are assigned a faculty mentor with whom they plan to work in their major field. This mentor will oversee the student's selection of courses for registration and the design of her or his course of study. Students are also encouraged to seek the advice of other faculty members in the program on their studies and their progress.

Students must develop a mastery of at least one major Middle Eastern language (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Turkish) and must demonstrate scholarly research skills and potential.  A period of study abroad in the region of specialization is strongly recommended for students of living languages.  Study of a second Middle Eastern language is required for students in the Hebrew Bible /Ancient Near East track (HB/ANE) and is strongly encouraged for all tracks.  Competency in a research language is also required.  Doctoral candidates are expected to present at least one paper at an academic or professional conference by the time they graduate.

Admission Requirements

Because scholarship in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures MELC requires a high degree of language proficiency, students normally complete a Master of Arts in the area of concentration before acceptance into the PhD program.  In exceptional cases, extensive study outside a master's program may be taken into account by the Graduate Admissions Committee.  For students specializing in a living language tradition, advanced proficiency in the language of concentration is required.

Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near East:  Students focusing on HB/ANE must have three years of Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, two years of a second ancient Semitic language or one year of a second Semitic language language plus proficiency in German (college or MA level), and background in the study of the Hebrew Bible. 

Degree Requirements

PhD students in living languages normally take three years of coursework beyond the MA degree.  PhD students in HB/ANE normally take four years of coursework after admission to the program.  Before taking the comprehensive exams, each student must demonstrate, through formal testing, proficiency in the language required by her/his major field. Reading knowledge in one research language is required and must be demonstrated by passing a reading test administered by the department.   

To be admitted to candidacy for the degree, the student must pass comprehensive written and oral examinations. The purpose of the comprehensive exams is to certify that the student has mastered a sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge for an academic career and has the skills and abilities required to complete a doctoral dissertation. The exams in most tracks must be taken by the beginning of the fourth year of the program.  HB/ANE students take their exams at the end of the fourth year.  After passing these examinations, the candidate sets up a dissertation committee with the help of his/her supervisor. This committee approves the dissertation proposal, guides the student in writing and revising the dissertation, and administers the final oral defense.

GPA Requirement

All students must maintain a minimum 3.50 GPA in order to remain in good standing.  If you happen to fall between a 3.00 - 3.50 in a given semester, you will enter probation and have one semester to bring your grades back above a 3.50.  Failure to do so could result in dismissal from the program.  Students must possess at least a 3.50 in order to graduate program the program.

Primary Tracks Offered

Linguistics | Middle Eastern Literatures | Middle Eastern Cultures | Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near East

Linguistics

For those interested in linguistics, MELC offers courses in both theoretical and applied linguistics as well as training in language pedagogy.  Theoretical interests of MELC faculty include comparative Semitics, dialectology, historical linguistics, language contact, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, and syntax.  Students are encouraged to explore other areas as well by taking courses in the Linguistics Department in relevant subdisciplines.

What distinguishes MELC from a degree in linguistics is that MELC students are expected to attain a high degree of language proficiency as well as cultural proficiency in their area.  Entering students are expected to have advanced proficiency in one Middle Eastern Language and all students are encouraged to study an additional language or languages.  For more information, please contact a faculty member whose interests you share.

Middle Eastern Literatures

This track provides graduate students with a comprehensive and in-depth training in Middle Eastern literary and cultural production.  The course of study is engaged within and across national and linguistic boundaries, disciplines, genres, and historical periods.  By interrogating conventional nationalist, cultural, and literary paradigms, students will deepen their understanding of the cultural dynamics of the region and confront complex literary questions as part of a larger humanistic inquiry.

In consultation with an adviser from their chosen field, students devise a program of study that includes training in literary theory and close textual reading in original languages.  MELC students have the unique opportunity to draw on a wide range of Middle East experts across the university.  They are expected to take graduate seminars conducted in the Middle Eastern language of their primary specialization, and to contextualize and complement their chosen focus by taking seminars in other Middle Eastern literatures and intellectual history, in Comparative Literature and in other relevant fields and departments.  Students who complete this track will be equipped with the necessary critical methodologies and literary training that will strategically position them for the job market in Middle Eastern Studies.

Middle Eastern Cultures

This focus combines Middle Eastern Studies training with methodological training in a specific discipline or field of study.  The Graduate Studies Committee, in consultation with the student, will develop a customized program of study that focuses on a specific discipline or field.  Courses, training, PhD exams, and the dissertation committee will then be built primarily around faculty members in the targeted discipline, who have full-time or affiliated appointments with the Department of Middle Eastern Studies.  It is possible to focus on a discipline or field only if there is sufficient faculty strength in that area within the Middle Eastern Studies program, and if it is academically and professionally appropriate to do so.

For example, two fields in which students are currently working are History and Islamic Studies.  If appropriate, this program may include coursework within the discipline that is not specifically Middle-East focused.  In the case of Islamic Studies in particular, the program of study may include non-Middle Eastern regions (such as South Asia.)  It may also include an MA or PhD Portfolio in Religious Studies.

Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near East

The HB/ANE track is designed to immerse students in the Hebrew Bible: its language, its context, and its study in the modern academy.  Students read the entire Hebrew Bible in four semesters, and they learn another ancient Semitic language to an intermediate level.  They are introduced to the ancient Near East through a Proseminar, and they are prepared for the field of biblical studies via two year-long seminars in which they are expected to write and respond as scholars in the field.  A basic degree plan can be viewed here.

All students in this track must develop a second field as well, with an eye toward the kinds of positions that exist for Hebrew Bible specialists in these times.  Second fields that have so far been selected include religious studies, New Testament, gender studies, and linguistics.