The Graduate Program in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

The Ancient Iranian Studies concentration provides students with training in the languages and textual and material cultures of antique and late antique Iran and Central Asia (roughly 6th c. BCE to 8th c. CE). Students obtain proficiency in Old and Middle Iranian languages and philological and literary-critical approaches to texts in those languages, in-depth knowledge of Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, as well as familiarity with visual and material sources from Iran and Central Asia. There are also opportunities to conduct hands-on research with Berkeley's holdings of Middle Persian manuscripts and Sasanian seals and sealings, and archaeological fieldwork projects in Central Asia. Themes in graduate coursework, in addition to language seminars, include late antique religions, philological method, social and cultural history, historical (socio)linguistics, and more.

The Arabic Language and Literature concentration is currently not accepting new applicants, but will do so in the near future.

The Cuneiform Studies concentration prepares students for independent research in Sumerian and Akkadian, the principal cuneiform languages of the Ancient Middle East. Students are trained in reading and interpreting multiple textual genres, such as literary texts, administrative and legal documents, omen texts and royal inscriptions. The dissertation project demonstrates a student's skills in utilizing text material for answering questions of a cultural-historical or linguistic nature. The Cuneiform Studies program is currently not accepting new applicants, but will do so in the near future. 

The Egyptology concentration provides professional training in two specializations, archaeology and philology. Students learn to analyze the textual, material and visual culture of ancient Egypt and its neighbors from the Pharaonic Era to the Greco-Roman Period using campus collections as well as in faculty-led projects in Egypt. Topics such as the digital humanities, reception history, religion, magic, museum and cultural heritage studies are common themes in graduate training. 

**MELC is not accepting graduate student applications for the current academic cycle.**

Students interested in Modern Hebrew and/or Yiddish literature may contact Prof. Roni Masel in the Comparative Literature Department with inquiries.

The Islamic Studies concentration provides cross-disciplinary training in the field of Islamic Studies that incorporates the historical-philological, developmental, and disciplinary approach to Islam with suitable theoretical frameworks and perspectives drawn from allied areas, such as ethnography, literary criticism, sociology, and anthropology.  Students obtain proficiency in two languages fundamental to the development of Islam (including Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Turkish), and are trained in the textual traditions and theoretical interventions that allow for engagement in contemporary topics of global and transregional concern. While students are provided with significant training in the pre-modern historical and textual developments of the religion, dissertation research may take any period or region as its focus and may draw from the disciplinary approaches that are most suitable to the object of its study.

The Middle Eastern Art and Archaeology concentration provides professional training in the material and visual culture of the Middle East, with a particular focus on Mesopotamia, the Levant, Iran, and Arabia. Students are trained in field, laboratory, and collections-based research and use these skills to conduct independent research for their dissertation projects. Students are prepared for careers in research, teaching, museum curation and exhibition, and cultural heritage management.  

The Persian literature concentration provides students with professional training in Persian literary history, theory, and criticism, as well as the cultural heritage of the Persian speaking lands since the advent of Islam to the modern/contemporary period. The geographical expanse of the sub-plan extends to Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan as well as Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The flexible program of study will allow students to obtain a comprehensive understanding of Persian poetics, rhetoric, and stylistics and to enrich their knowledge of such topics as Persian Sufi poetry and prose, comparative poetics, translation studies, historiography, and the Persian philosophical tradition and forms of knowledge. Graduate students in Persian literature are encouraged to complement their studies by taking courses broadly related to Persian studies in other departments.

Coursework requirements for specific concentrations are described in Section 3.3.1 in the Graduate Student Handbook. 

Students must pass reading examinations in French and German, if they did not already do so when completing their M.A. requirements. Students may complete a reading exam in another language pertinent to the student's field of emphasis on approval of the student's advisory committee. Only under rare exceptions will language exams completed at other universities be accepted. 

Proficiency in field-specific languages is usually demonstrated through concentration-specific coursework as described in Section 3.3.1 in the Graduate Student Handbook.

Students studying in the Egyptology or the Middle Eastern Art and Archaeology concentration will acquire practical experience in fieldwork or museum studies such as an archaeological excavation and collections research in a museum.  

Students prepare for and take three written examinations on topics pertaining to their research interests. Soon after completing the written exams, students defend their answers in an oral qualifiying exam with their committee members.

Upon passing their oral qualifiying exam, a student forms a dissertation committee and submits a prospectus outlining the scope of their dissertation project. 

The student researches and writes a substantial piece of original scholarship in consultation with their dissertation committee. Students follow the Berkeley Graduate Division's guidelines for writing and submitting a dissertation.