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Course Offerings & Academic Programs

Course offerings

The Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures offers 4 main types of courses:

- GE and elective courses for students across the University, in the literatures and cultures of peoples centered around the Near East, in the Literature, Visual & Performing Arts, Culture & Ideas, Diversity / Social Diversity in the US, and Diversity / Global Studies categories;

- Introductory through advanced-level GE language courses in ArabicHebrewHindi, Jewish Studies, Persian, TurkishUrdu, and Uzbek;

- Intermediate and advanced undergraduate seminars, both in English and otherwise, in the ArabicHebrew, NELCPersian, and Turkish programs

- Graduate seminars constituting the core of Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctoral (Ph.D.) programs in Near Eastern Languages & Cultures (as well as components of a Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization (GIS) in Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean), but serving students from a number of other Social Science, Humanities, and Arts departments, taught both in English and in the languages of study.   

Course schedules are available for information about course offerings for past, current, and upcoming semesters.  View the Department's course catalog excerpts for lists of all possible course offerings (with, soon, course descriptions).

Study Abroad

The Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures encourages all of its majors and minors, as well as its language students, to spend part of their time as an Ohio State student living and studying in another part of the world.  The Department works closely with the campus-wide OSU Study Abroad office to provide students with opportunities to study in North Africa and the Middle East in ways that allow them to continue making progress toward their degrees - both in terms of language skill and coursework requirements.  General information is available from the Department about NELC-related Study Abroad opportunities, and students can contact oia-studyabroad@osu.edu with questions and for further details.

Academic Programs [Majors, Minors, and Graduate]

NELC offers undergraduates the opportunity to earn majors in ArabicHebrew, Jewish Studies, and Islamic Studies, as well as minors in ArabicHebrew, Jewish Studies, PersianSouth Asia Studies, or Turkish.  The Department also offers two graduate programs - a Master of Arts (M.A.) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) - and collaborates with Classics, History, and History of Art in offering a Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean.