News
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Spring 2026 Arabic Calligraphy Workshop! We are grateful to our sponsors, volunteers, partners, and especially Dr. Muhammad Habib for making this…
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Spring 2026 Arabic Calligraphy Workshop, held on Friday, April 10th from 3–5 PM at the 18th Avenue Library (Rooms 070/090). The event was a beautiful…
Professor Johanna Sellman has been named the 2025 recipient of the Deborah and Ronald Ratner Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest teaching honor in the College of Arts and…
Professor Sean Anthony has been named an Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor, the highest faculty distinction awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences. This honor…
Syncretic Spirits of Fire: Narratives of the jinn and related beings in Near Eastern religious corpora
Author: Vija…
Salma Albezreh was awarded the ninth annual Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize for her paper: “Who But You Can Save Us? Allāh’s Theological Position in Ancestral Arabian Religion and…
NESA wrapped up the Autumn semester with a little sugar and a lot of smiles! From December 8–10, students stopped by our selfie station to enjoy hot chocolate, tea, and delicious treats. It was the…
Exploring Arab & Russian Cultures: SEELC & NESA Faculty Partner with Metro Schools
January 8, 2026 – January 22, 2026
This January, the Department of Slavic…
Professor James Moore explains what DLATO is and how DEAPS works in a lecture given to the Center for AI and Data Science at Tel Aviv University.
You can view his lecture on YouTube.
…
The Podcast of Jewish Ideas Episode 82. Zechariah al-Dhahiri with Dr. Adena Tanenbaum (12/25/2025)
J.J. and Dr. Adena Tanenbaum unravel the dynamics of late…
Associate Professor Adena Tanenbaum has published a new book titled Beguiling Guidance: Zechariah Alḍāhirī’s Sefer Hamusar (Brill, published 2025, copyright 2026).
Synopsis…
Dr. Sarah Schellinger's book Nubia in the Lost Civilizations series published by Reaktion Books provides an accessible history of Nubia from prehistory to present-day Sudan. The book has…
Professor Ahmad Al-Jallad, Chair in Arabic Studies, was featured in a Science article for his research on the deciphering of the Dhofari script. Al-Jallad's study is a major breakthrough for…
This summer, Associate Professor Naomi Brenner was awarded the Stuart and Lynda Resnick Fellowship at the National Library of Israel.
The fellowship provides a generous stipend and a…
We are pleased to share that two students within NESA were awarded a prestigious and highly competitive CASA scholarship to study Arabic next year.
Bryn Barr graduated this spring with dual…
Congratulations to NESA graduate students Gamze Akbas and Zari Mahmoudi, who successfully completed their PhD defenses in April!
Gamze's dissertation is entitled “For They Are Deficient in…
On March 21 in the Hagerty Hall Intercultural Gallery, NESA hosted a Persian New Year (Nowruz) celebration. The event consisted of Persian traditional music, snacks, and sweets. Thank you to all…
Author and journalist Sadiya Ansari joined NESA on March 17 to discuss her memoir, In Exile: Rupture, Reunion, and My Grandmother’s Secret.
Students read her memoir during class…
This January, faculty from the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures (SEELC) and the Department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures (NESA) collaborated to…
Dr. Kamali Sarvestani hosted a NESA Persian Dinner Party at his home on Saturday, Nov. 9., as a celebration of Persian culture and community.
Dr. Naomi Brenner was the special guest of the…
Dr. Noor Murteza hosted a class party on Nov. 14 for her Arabic 1101 students, which included a meal and class trivia on Arab food!
The students enjoyed their time, tried new food, and…
Thank you to everyone who attended the CLLC World Language Party last week! NESA had a table where students were able to talk to language professors and tutors about the language and other courses…
Professor Ahmad Al-Jallad, the Sofia Chair of Arabic Studies, recently gave a TEDx Talk titled From History to Myth, and Back Again.
Why do myths of lost worlds, like…
Professor Ahmad Al-Jallad, Chair in Arabic Studies, was featured in a Live Science article as he was the co-author of the study of a "Paleo-Arabic inscription on a boulder near an abandoned mosque…
Thank you to everyone who came to our Nowruz celebration on March 21st!
Nowruz ("new day" in Persian) is the Iranian New Year based on the astronomical vernal equinox. At our event, we…
Recent events that NESA has participated in hosting:
We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Muhammad Habib for hosting an Arabic Calligraphy Workshop open to the public on October…
Since October 7, many of us are following the war in Israel and Gaza with horror. Some of us are affected deeply and personally, with colleagues, friends, and family killed or in danger. We dread…
Assistant Professor James Moore's latest book, New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin, received a positive review from historian Amit Gvaryahu of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem…
The American Academy for Jewish Research represents the oldest organization of Judaic scholars in North America. Fellows are nominated and elected by their peers and thus constitute the most…
Ticket to the World Summer Camp brings world languages to middle school students in a way they may not encounter in school.
Through full-immersion language classes,…
Season 4 Episode 7: Do Jews Believe in Magic
While the Talmud famously forbids sorcery, Jewish history is full of examples of what many today might refer to as "magic."…
Complete 1 full year of Arabic Language Coursework during an 8-week summer session!* (June 6 - July 29, 2023)
DEADLINE: APRIL 12, 2023
Curriculum & Content
Dr. Hamed Esmaeilion, the Iranian-Canadian Novelist, gave a book talk on November 3rd, 2022, talking about his life and his recently published work, It Snows in This House.
…
Mahsa Amini was an Iranian 22-year old who was violently arrested by the Iranian Morality Police. The police claimed she was wearing an “improper hijab” according to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s…
Taken From The College of Arts and Sciences' News
Two big changes are coming to a department in the College of Arts and Sciences this summer.
In June, the Department of Near…
We are very excited to announce that Morgan Liu, associate professor in the Department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures, has been appointed chair of the…
We are excited to announce that Near Eastern Languages and Cultures is now Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures, or NESA!
The Board of Trustees during…
We are thrilled to announce that our Zari Mahmoudi just recently passed her candidacy exams, under the advisement of Professors Sean Anthony, Johanna Sellman, Michael Swartz, and Hugh Urban, and…
We would like to congratulate current MA student Gordon Goodwin (2023) for winning the 2022-2023 Arts Scholars and Humanities Scholars Graduate Teaching Associate award! Gordon will be supporting…
Connor Rouillier a Ph.D. student in the Department of Linguistics and NELC has been awarded the well-known Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center Summer Arabic Language and Media (SALAM) program fully…
The Fulbright-Hays program for Faculty research is being reinstated by the U.S. Congress, after a many-year hiatus. They asked me to make this short promotional video of my experience in 2008 in…
Congratulations to NELC's Donna Jarjour for being awarded the Melton Center’s George M. and Reneé Levine Graduate Fellowship in Jewish Studies for this academic year (2021-2022).
Donna…
Please join me in congratulating Phil Tice for a successful defense of his doctoral dissertation, Language and Performance in Post-revolution Tunisia.
Phil, a Major in the U.S. Air Force,…
Larkin Cleland, a fourth-year undergraduate majoring in Geography as well as Arabic and Islamic Studies in the NELC Department, has been awarded a CASA at AUC Fellowship. The Center for Arabic…
arlier this year, the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures (SEELC) partnered with the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) to offer a January Term (J…
Special Announcement! NELC Department Poetry Project
Since the dawn of human civilization, poetry has played a vital role in transmitting culture, expressing individual identity, and…
The 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Tuesday, September 22nd. As part of the General Assembly, His Excellency Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of the Republic of…
Ben Batarseh recently completed and defended his M.A. Thesis, Transjordanian State-Building and the Palestinian Problem: How Tribal Values and Symbols Became the Bedrock of Jordanian…
Nathan Young recently completed and defended his Dissertation, Modernity’s Other: Nostalgia for Village Life in Turkey (see below for summary).
During his time in the NELC PhD…
During this peculiar summer of 2020, Ehsan Estiri finished and defended his Dissertation, Talking Back to America: Discursive Processes in Iranian Angelino Public Events (see below for…
Essays on Iranian Modern Fiction by Dr. Mehrak Kamali has recently been published in Persian. The book is a body of writings about contemporary Persian novels and short stories. The…
NELC Professor of Islamic Studies, Dr. Sean Anthony, has had a new book published, Muhammad and the Empires of Faith The Making of the Prophet of Islam (University of California Press,…
On February 14, 2020, the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) named Magda El-Sherbini, Professor/Middle East & Islamic Studies Librarian at The Ohio State University,…
During the Fall 2019 semester, the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) awarded the Hajj Abu Ismail Jallaq Scholarship to two outstanding graduate students, Ben Batarseh and…
Safaitic is the name of an extinct script used to write rock inscriptions in forms of pre-Islamic Arabic concentrated the Syro-Jordanian Ḥarrah. Ahmad Al-Jallad with his colleague Karolina…
NELC Professor of South Asia Studies Dr. Ila Nagar has had a new book published, Being Janana: Language and Sexuality in Contemporary India (Routledge Press, 2019).
The Center for Slavic and East European Studies announced that it has awarded Professor Morgan Liu a curriculum development grant for the 2019-20 academic year. Professor Morgan Liu, Department of…
NELC Associate Professor, Morgan Liu, was recently elected to serve as President of the Central Eurasian Studies Society. He will begin his service as in the presidency this October for three…
Danielle V. Schoon, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) and Melinda McClimans, Middle East Studies Center (MESC), were awarded grants from the University Institute of Teaching and Learning …
The NELC Department would like to welcome Dr. Hekmet Dirbas to the Department! Dr. Dirbas will be working with NELC undergraduate and graduate students and teaching courses in Arabic Language,…
The NELC Department is proud to announce that on Thursday, June 6, Rasmyah Alaybani defended her dissertation and will graduate with her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the Summer…
The Global Arts + Humanities Graduate Team Fellowships are financial awards made on the basis of academic merit through a division-wide competition. These fellowships are given to recognize the…
The NELC Department would like to welcome Dr. Sarah Schellinger to the Department as a Visiting Scholar for the 2019-2020 academic year. She specializes in the art and archaeology of ancient Egypt…
The NELC Department is proud to announce that on Friday, May 10, Miriam R. Bourgeois defended her dissertation and will graduate with her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the Summer…
On March 19, 2019, NELC Hebrew Instructor, Galit Golan was recognized with the Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer.
The Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by a…
Bradley Brincka, OSU Arabic Major, was awarded the highly selective Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace to study Arabic this summer at Middlebury College's intensive langauge program.
Bradley…
During the Fall 2018 semester, the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) awarded the Hajj Abu Ismail Jallaq Scholarship to two outstanding Islamic Studies majors, Steven Turner…
Michael D. Swartz’s latest book appeared this fall: The Mechanics of Providence: The Workings of Ancient Jewish Magic and Mysticism (Tübingen: Mohr, 2018). It argues…
Ashley Clark is a Senior majoring in Comparative Studies and minoring in South Asia Studies. She spent the Spring 2018 semester studying abroad in Hyderabad, India and submitted this…
During the summer of 2018, Islamic Studies Major Matt Loxley had the opportunity to study Arabic in Oman after having been awarded the prestigious Critical Langauge Fellowship.
Matt Loxley’s…
The beginning of the autumn 2018 semester marks the start of three new graduate student careers at NELC. The department is very excited to welcome these three talented scholars to the NELC…
Dr. Robert Holub, Chair of the Germanic Department has been named the interim Chair for the Department of Near Eastern Langauges and Cultures. Dr. Holub brings a wealth of adminsitrative and…
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures is excited to welcome our newest faculty member, Dr. Ahmad Al-Jallad, M. S. Sofia Chair in Arabic Studies.
Ahmad Al-Jallad is a…
The Department of Near Eastern lanaguges and Cultures wishes a fond farewell to three students that have earned a MA in our Department:
Kathy Nowak will begin teaching Arabic langauge at the…
Morgan Y. Liu, associate professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, has been named interim chair of the department, effective July 1. Liu is a cultural anthropologist…
Congratulations to Professor Morgan Liu on receiving the annual book award of the Central Eurasian Studies Society in 2014 for his monograph Under Solomon’s Throne. The book was chosen by…
Congratulations to NELC PhD student Trisha Myers on her award of a fellowship at the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC) at Koç University. The RCAC aims to develop and facilitate…
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures will again, for Summer 2014, be offering its Intensive Arabic program for both OSU and non-OSU highschoolers, undergradautes, graduate…
Three of NELC's graduate students completed their Master of Arts degrees in Spring semester 2013: Brent Biglin (Youssef Yacoubi, advisor), Nicholas Mangialardi (Sabra Webber, advisor), and…
Ben Gatling (Margaret Mills, advisor) defended his "Post-Soviet Sufism: Texts and the Performance of Tradition in Tajikistan" in Summer semester 2012 and has taken a position as a Lecturing Fellow…
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures offers both matriculated OSU students as well as non-students the opportunity to earn 2 semesters' worth of Arabic during a single 7-week…
The Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures will welcome Kevin van Bladel as new Department Chair for the Autumn 2013 semester.
Van Bladel's work is centered in the cultural and…