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Associate Chair and Counselor for Undergraduate Studies: Christopher Woods, OR 322, 834-8560, woods@uchicago.edu
Departmental Secretary: OR 212, 702-9512, ne-lc@uchicago.edu
For a sample list of NELC courses open to undergraduates, please visit our section of the College Catalog here.
For the current University of Chicago Time Schedules, please check here.
Program of Study
The B.A. degree programs in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) are as varied as the wide subject matter they embrace. Areas of specialization within NELC include:
Archaeology and Art of the Ancient Near East
Classical Hebrew Language and Civilization
Cuneiform Studies (including Assyriology, Hittitology, and Sumerology)
Egyptian Languages and Civilization
Islamic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies (including Arabic, Armenian, Modern Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, and Uzbek)
Near Eastern Judaica
Students who major in NELC learn one or more of the primary native languages as a means of access to the cultures of the ancient Near East and the modern Middle East. (Students who plan to do advanced work in Near Eastern studies are strongly encouraged also to develop a reading knowledge of German and French.) In consultation with the counselor for undergraduate studies, each student chooses an area of specialization and devises a program of study that provides a sound basis for graduate work in that area or for a career in museology, business, government, and other disciplines.
Students who major in other fields of study may wish to minor in NELC. The minor program is described below, after the description of the major.
To declare a major or minor in NELC you need to follow the procedure outlined by The College. That procedure is detailed here. In addition to the forms that you fill out for The College, we request that you also fill out our own departmental form which is available in the department office or you may download the form from this webiste in Word format or as a PDF. This form is for our own records and does not constitute an actual major or minor declaration.
Thirteen courses and a B.A. paper are required for a NELC major.
(1) Two or three quarters of one of the following civilization sequences:
NEHC 20011-20012-20013. Ancient Empires I, II, III
NEHC 20001-20002-20003. Ancient Near Eastern History and Society I, II, III
NEHC 20004-20005-20006. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and Literature I, II, III
NEAA 20001-20002-20003. Archaeology of the Ancient Near East I, II, III
NEHC 20501-20502-20503. Islamic History and Society I, II, III
NEHC 20601-20602-20603. Islamic Thought and Literature I, II, III
NEHC 20401-20402-20403. Jewish History and Society I, II, III
NEHC 20404-20405-20406. Jewish Thought and Literature I, II, III
NEHC 20411-20412-20413. Medieval Jewish History I, II, III
Note that the course sequences on “Archaeology of the Ancient Near East” and “Medieval Jewish History” do not fulfill the general education requirement in civilization studies. All of the other NELC civilization sequences do fulfill the general education requirement. Note also that “Medieval Jewish History” and “Jewish History and Society” overlap partially and are mutually exclusive.
(2) Six courses in one of the Near Eastern languages (e.g., Akkadian, Arabic, Egyptian, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish). Credit for language courses may not be granted by examination or placement.
(3) Three or four elective courses in the student’s area of specialization. These courses should be chosen in consultation with the counselor for undergraduate studies. They may consist of additional NELC language courses, an additional NELC civilization sequence, or approved courses in areas such as archaeology, art, literature in translation, history, and religion.
(4) The B.A. Paper Seminar (NEHC 29800) is required of all NELC majors. It is to be taken in the Autumn Quarter of the year in which the student expects to graduate. The seminar and B.A. paper are described below.
Summary of Requirements
6 courses in one Near Eastern language at any level*
2 or 3 courses in one approved NELC two- or three-quarter civilization sequence**
4 or 3 approved electives relating to the Near East***
1 B.A. Paper Seminar (NEHC 29800)
13
* Credit may not be granted by examination or placement.
** If a Near Eastern civilization sequence is used to meet the College general education requirement, a second Near Eastern civilization sequence is required.
*** May include one B.A. Paper Preparation (NEHC 29999).
Grading. All courses taken to meet requirements in the major must be taken for quality grades, with the exception of the B.A. Paper Seminar (NEHC 29800), which is taken pass/fail.
Advising. Students who major in NELC must consult the counselor for undergraduate studies when planning their programs.
B.A. Paper. Candidates for the B.A. degree in NELC are required to write a substantial B.A. paper. The paper provides the student the opportunity to research a topic of interest and to improve writing and presentation skills.
It is the student’s responsibility, in his or her third year, to approach a NELC faculty member with a request to serve as the student’s faculty research adviser. The student and the faculty adviser together decide on a topic for the B.A. paper. The topic must be registered in the NELC department office by Monday of tenth week in Spring Quarter of the student’s third year. Forms to register the topic are available in the department office or you may download them here in Word format or as a PDF.
Students are required to register for the B.A. Paper Seminar (NEHC 29800) in Autumn Quarter of their fourth year. A passing grade (P) for the seminar depends on full attendance and participation throughout the quarter. The B.A. Paper Seminar is a workshop course designed to survey the fields represented by NELC and to assist students in researching and writing their B.A. papers. Students continue working on their B.A. papers during the following quarters, meeting at intervals with their faculty research advisers. They may register for NEHC 29999 during the Winter Quarter to devote the equivalent of a one-quarter course to the preparation of the paper; the paper grade, reported in the Spring Quarter, will be the grade for the course NEHC 29999.
Students taking a double major may, with the permission of the NELC counselor for undergraduate studies, write a single B.A. paper that is designed to meet the requirements of both majors, provided that the faculty research adviser is a member of the NELC faculty. Approval from both program chairs is required. A consent form, to be signed by the chairs, is available from the College adviser. It must be completed and returned to the College adviser by the end of Autumn Quarter of the student’s year of graduation.
The completed B.A. paper must be submitted to the faculty research adviser by Monday of third week in Spring Quarter. The faculty research adviser will grade the paper and then will submit it to the NELC counselor for undergraduate studies by Monday of fifth week in Spring Quarter. Students who fail to meet the deadline will not be eligible for honors and may not be able to graduate in that quarter.
A concise timeline of events related to the B.A. paper can be found here.
The above information assumes a Spring Quarter graduation. Students who expect to graduate in other quarters should consult the NELC counselor for undergraduate studies.
Honors. Students who complete their course work and their B.A. papers with distinction are considered for graduation with honors. To be eligible for honors in NELC, students must have an overall GPA of 3.25 or higher, they must have a NELC GPA of 3.5 or higher, and they must have earned a grade of A on the B.A. paper.
Minor Program in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
The minor in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization requires a total of six courses. Students may choose one of two tracks: (1) a language track that includes three courses of one NELC language at any level, or (2) a culture track that replaces language study with courses in such topics as archaeology, history, religion, or literature in translation. Both tracks require a two- or three-quarter NELC civilization sequence.
Students who wish to take a minor in NELC must meet with the counselor for undergraduate studies before the end of Spring Quarter of their third year to declare their intention to complete the minor. Courses should be chosen in consultation with the counselor. Students should submit the counselor’s approval for the minor program to their College adviser by the deadline above on a form obtained from the adviser.
Courses in the minor may not be double-counted with a student’s major(s) or with other minors, and they may not be counted toward general education requirements. Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades. More than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.
Listed below are sample sets of courses that meet the requirements of the NELC minor.Language Track Sample Minor
AKKD 10101-10102-10103. Elementary Akkadian*
NEHC 20001-20002-20003. Ancient Near Eastern History and Society
Language Track Sample Minor
ARAB 20101-20102-20103. Intermediate Arabic*
NEHC 20601-20602-20603. Islamic Thought and Literature
Culture Track Sample Minor
NEHC 20011-20012-20013. Ancient Empires
NEHC 20401-20402-20403. Jewish History and Society
* Consult the counselor for undergraduate studies about the level of the language (introductory, intermediate, or advanced) required to meet the language track requirement. Credit may not be granted by examination to meet the language requirement for the minor program.
BA Papers
Submit proposal by the end of spring quarter of third year – signed by the faculty member that will supervise the paper.
Register for BA Paper Seminar in autumn quarter of fourth year (required); grade is P/F and has no bearing on the GPA.
Register for BA Paper Preparation in winter quarter of fourth year (optional) – devote the equivalent of one course; grade for the course will be the grade on the paper (must be a letter grade and counts in both the overall and the NELC GPA); because this grade will not be entered until spring quarter, remind the faculty adviser that the deadline for prior quarter grades (the Friday of ninth week) must be met.
Students with a double major must have the required College form signed by both departments; the form is returned to the College adviser by the end of autumn quarter. NELC requires that a member of the NELC faculty oversee the paper; since the other department may have a similar requirement, there will likely be two faculty members overseeing the work.
There is no precise format specifically for BA papers, but they should follow appropriate academic style with attention paid to proper footnoting and bibliography. Papers are generally 30+ pages.
Submit one copy of the BA paper to the NELC office by Monday of third week in spring quarter. NELC staff will route the paper first to the faculty adviser, who should return it - with comments - to the NELC office by Monday of fifth week. NELC staff will then route the papers to the undergraduate counselor. As soon as official GPAs (overall and NELC) are received from the Registrar and College, respectively, NELC will notify the undergraduate counselor which students may be considered for departmental honors.
The undergraduate counselor will determine, with the NELC Chair, which of the students are in contention for the Palmer Prize. Eligible students will have the necessary overall and NELC GPAs and a paper graded A.
The undergraduate counselor will write the necessary letters to the Collegiate Master for those students who are being considered for honors based on the three criteria: overall GPA (3.25), NELC GPA (3.5), and paper grade (A). These are usually submitted the Monday of seventh week.
All papers will be returned to the NELC office, whose staff will notify students that papers are ready to be returned to them.
Due to the diversity of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, we do not have a singular listhost that encompasses everyone associated with the department. Instead, we maintain several different email address books so that messages can be targeted to specific groups of people. This allows us to avoid sending unwanted or inapplicable messages to everyone. If you are an undergraduate NELC concentrator and would like to be placed in our concentrator's address book, please email Paula Manzuk (pgmanzuk@uchicago.edu) and include your current College year and area of interest within the department.