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The graduate program, the oldest of its kind in the nation, is designed to
train professional scholars and teachers in Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures
(including Biblical Studies) ,
Egyptology
, Assyriology , Ancient
Law , and Near Eastern Archaeology .
Preliminary Requirements
In order to read the scholarly literature, proficiency is required
in French and German. A proficiency test in one language must be passed by
the end of the student's first semester and in the second by the end of the
third semester (in any order). There are special arrangements for
students whose native language is not English.
In order to pursue Biblical Studies, prior knowledge of Biblical
Hebrew is required, and some command of Greek and Latin will be necessary.
While always desirable, no prior knowledge is required for admittance to
study the other ancient languages offered by the Department.
Course of Study
Students will normally spend several years in course-work (see
individual programs for timetable) before taking the comprehensive
examinations in their major and minor areas of concentration. Courses are
in seminars that allow small groups of students and faculty to engage in
close study of special problems. All students must take the three-year
cycle of seminars in Ancient Near Eastern History, which brings together
students and faculty from the different sub-disciplines.
A complete listing of courses may be found in the Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences On-line Course Catalog .
The courses listed may be modified in particular years to suit the needs of
students currently in residence.
After passing the comprehensive examinations, the next step is to
prepare and submit a dissertation proposal. If the proposal is accepted,
the student will then write the dissertation under the direction of his/her
advisor and in consultation with a second reader.
Students are expected to write short research papers in their
seminars, which will prepare them for the task of writing a full-length
dissertation. When they reach the stage of dissertation research, students
are encouraged to present papers to the Departmental Seminar, an occasional
informal meeting over lunch where both students and faculty can present
their current research. They are also encouraged to present papers on their
dissertation research at conferences in their field.
Advanced students are also given the opportunity to gain teaching
experience. Traditionally, advanced students teach the elementary language courses
and may act as teaching assistants to faculty in undergraduate classes.
Near Eastern students are also among the most frequent recipients of the
university-wide Dean's Teaching Fellowship, which enables graduate students
to teach a course of their own devising to undergraduates.
Minor
The subject of the student's minor area of concentration will
usually be an ancient Near Eastern language (and its literature) outside of
the student's major area of study. Permission may be given for a minor to
be created from other departments' courses.
Archaeology students may, with permission, do a minor in the
history and archaeology of an area other than the major area of
concentration (e.g., an Egyptian archaeologist could minor in Syro-Palestinian archaeology), or create a minor
through a selection of courses from other departments (e.g., Classics,
Material Science, Art History).
Resources
The Milton S. Eisenhower Library houses an outstanding Near
Eastern collection, including most of the important works of the nineteenth
century not usually found in other libraries. The Department has its own
special study and seminar room within the library.
Students interested in art and archaeology will benefit from the
collections of the Walters Art Gallery
in Baltimore and the museums and collections
in Washington DC, especially those of the Smithsonian
Institute. The Department itself has a small archaeological museum on
campus, together with the Classics Department. We also have our own
"smart" seminar room and an archaeology laboratory.
The Department is at present conducting two excavations in the
Near East, in Egypt (Hopkins
in Egypt Today) and Syria
(Umm el-Marra
Excavations). Students from all sub-disciplines (not
just archaeology) are encouraged to participate in one or more seasons.
The W. F. Albright and Samuel Iwry
lectureships bring distinguished scholars to the Department annually for a
public lecture. Additional lectures and seminars by visiting scholars from
this country and abroad are designed to enrich and augment faculty
instruction. The Ancient Studies Colloquium is a bi-annual joint
undertaking of the Near Eastern Studies and Classics Departments. We invite
several scholars from other institutions to discuss a topic of common
interest. Past topics have included Herodotus in Egypt, Colonization, and the
Organization of Knowledge.
Special Programs
As the program is intended to lead to the Ph.D., students are
admitted as candidates for the M.A. only in unusual cases. Exceptionally,
the Department may accept students who register for one or more courses
individually (Special Students). Departmental financial aid is not available
for M.A. or special students. Information for Special/Visiting
Graduate Students (Non-Degree) is available in PDF format: Application
Instructions for Special Students 2007-2008.
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