Program
Middle East Studies
Center for Judaic Studies (see below for separate entry)
Middle East Center

Degrees Offered
BA
MA
PhD
Through the following disciplinary departments, [including
interdisciplinary graduate groups and undergraduate majors]:
- Ancient History (graduate group)
- Anthropology Department
- Architecture Department
- Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World (graduate group)
- Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Department
- Art History Department
- City and Regional Planning Department
- Comparative Literature (graduate group)
- Demography (graduate group)
- Economics Department
- Education School
- Folklore (graduate group)
- Geology Department
- History Department
- Jewish Studies (undergraduate program)
- Linguistics Department
- Philosophy Department
- Political Science Department
- Regional Science (graduate group)
- Religious Studies Department
- Sociology Department
- Islamic Law (joint degree program between Law School and Asian and
Middle Eastern Studies)
Joint degrees between disciplines possible (e.g. Anthropology and
Egyptology; Education and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies).
Middle East Languages
Arabic (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Colloquial Spoken Arabic -
Egypt, The Levant)
Hebrew (Modern - Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced; Biblical -
Elementary, Intermediate)
Akkadian
Sumerian
Aramaic
Coptic
Egyptian (Old, Middle, Late)
Ugaritic
Amharic
Ge'ez (Old Ethiopic)
Northwest Semitic Epigraphy
Persian (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Persian Reading and Writing
for Fluent Speakers)
Avestan and Old Persian
Turkish (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced)
Other Iranian, Semitic and Turkic languages may be available on demand
through the Penn Language Center
Courses (by Department or Graduate Group):
Anthropology
Archaeology
Ancient Civilizations of the World
Ancient Cultures of Central Asia
Archaeology of Empires
Ancient Metalworking
Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
Archaeology of Complex Societies
Archaeology of North Asia
Archaeology of Seafaring
Archaeology and Society of the Holy Land
Ceramics and Ceramic Analysis
Economics of Ancient Trade
Historical and Cultural Perspective of Cities
Introduction to the Archaeology of Historical Periods of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia-Heartland of Cities
Near East Prehistory
Origin and Culture of Cities
Paleopathology
Readings and Research in Near Eastern Archaeology
The Sumerians
Cultural Anthropology
Culture and Conflict in International Relations
Diversity and Pluralism: A Cross Cultural Perspective
Ecology, Society and Culture: A seminar in Cultural Anthropology
Islam in South Asian Cultures
The Middle East: Religion and Society
The Middle East: Cultural Continuities
Readings and Research in the Anthropology of the Middle East
Ancient History (Graduate Group)
Selected courses drawn from Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,
Anthropology, and Classics.
Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World (Graduate Group)
Selected courses drawn from Anthropology, Classics, History of Art.
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Ancient Near East
Myths and Religions of the Ancient World
Akkadian Historic Texts
Akkadian Letters
Akkadian Economic Texts
Akkadian Legal Texts
Akkadian Literary Texts
Akkadian Religious and Scientific Texts
Peripheral Akkadian
Mesopotamian History and Culture
Mesopotamian Literature; Seminar in Cuneiform Texts
Readings in Sumerian Texts
Semitic Linguistics
Ancient African Civilizations
Ancient Egyptian Biographical Inscriptions
Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian Language and Literature
Ancient Middle Eastern History and Civilization
Archaeology of Nubia
Archaeology and History of the Middle Kingdom
Egypt and Canaan during the Bronze Age
Egyptian Culture and Archaeology
Egyptian Artifacts
History of Ancient Egypt
Land of the Pharaohs: Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Civilization
Literary Legacy of Ancient Egypt
Life and Death in Ancient China and Egypt
Lords of the Nile
Late Egyptian Texts (non-literary and literary)
Middle Egyptian Texts (literary and non-literary)
Old Egyptian Texts (religious and secular)
Problems in Ancient Egyptian History
Religion of Ancient Egypt: Image of Ancient Life
Word and Image: The Unity of Art and Writing in Ancient Egypt
The Silk Road
Arab and Islamic Studies
Advanced Arabic Composition
Advanced Arabic and Syntax
Arabic Literary History
Arabic Readings in Social Sciences and the Media
Arabic Readings in Belles Lettres
Arabic Historiography and Paleography
Arabic Readings in Classical and Modern Criticism
Directed Readings in Arabic
Journeys in Arabic Narrative
Literary Theory and Arabic Literature
Selected Topics in Arabic Literature
Seminar in Arabic Poetry
Islamic History to 1517
Introduction to Islamic Law
Introduction to the Qur'an
Islam in South Asian Cultures
Islamic Civilization
Islamic Mysticism
Islamic Philosophy
Islam: Religion and Institutions
Islamic Religion and Law: Scholasticism and Humanism
Seminar in Islamics
Topics in Islamic Religion
Medieval Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Biblical and Jewish Studies
Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature
Advanced Modern Hebrew Literature
Israeli Novel in Translation
Modern Hebrew Fiction and Poetry
Jewish Folklore
Israeli Culture Through Literature
Israeli Folk Literature
Seminar in Rabbinic Literature
Ancient Interpretation of the Bible
Archaeology of Ancient Israel
Archaeology and Society in the Holy Land
A Book of the Bible
Biblical Texts
Canaanite Literature
Classical Midrash and Aggadah
History of the Hebrew Language
Poetry of the Hebrew Bible
Seminar in Biblical Studies
The Bible in Translation
The Bible as Literature
History and Civilization of Ancient Israel
History of Bible in Ancient Israel
History of the Hebrew Language
The Problems of the Past in Late Antiquity
Medieval Hebrew Literature
The Passover Haggadah
Readings in Classical Midrashim
Seminar in Jewish Law
Siddur and Piyyut
Studies in the Hebrew Bible
Talmud and Halakhah
Talmudic-Midrashic Literature
Dead Sea Scrolls and Literature of the 2nd Temple Period
Religion of Israel in the Biblical Period
Concepts of Jewishness
History of Jewish Civilization
Introduction to Classical Judaism
Jewish Law and Ethics
Jewish Literature in Antiquity
Jewish Literature in the Middle Ages
Jewish Thought Since the Holocaust
Responses to Suffering
Seminar in Rabbinic Judaism
Persian and Turkish
Fiction of Modern Iran
Introduction to Persian Literature
Classical Persian Prose
Great Mystic Epics of Iran
Selected Topics in Persian Literature
Modern History and Literature
Gender and Identity in Modern Arabic Literature
History of the Middle East Since 1800
Introduction to the Middle East
Modern Middle Eastern Literature in Translation
Middle East in the 20th Century
Orientalism
Sex and Gender in the Traditional Middle East
Classics
Age of Perikles
Archaeology and Ancient Greek Society
Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
The East Greeks
Archaeology of the Coastal North Africa
Cyrenaica and Marmarica
Comparative Literature (Graduate Group)
Most courses in this group originate in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,
Folklore, History of Art and Religious Studies.
|Education
Cultural Perspectives of Human Development
Human Development and Basic Education
Folklore (Graduate Group)
Courses from Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Anthropology, and English
Geology
Petrol and Petrology
The Pleistocene
International Mineral Resources
History
Art and Society in Modern Jewish History
Comparative Slave Trade
The Crusades
Early Modern Middle East
History of Jewish Civilization: Biblical Beginnings to the Late Middle
Ages
History of Jewish Civilization from the Late Middle Ages to the Present
Topics in Jewish History
Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History
Islamic History to 1517
Middle East Since 1800
Making of the European Mind
Medieval Jews, Christians, Muslims
Middle East Civilizations
Modern Jewish History - Since 1800
Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Roman North Africa
The World of the Middle Ages
Women and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa
History of Art
Art of Andalusia
City in the Islamic World
The Islamic City
Islamic Civilization and Visual Culture
Islamic Epigraphy
Medieval Islamic Art and Architecture
Later Islamic Art and Architecture
Seminar in Islamic Architecture
Seminar in Islamic Art
The Middle East-Cultural Continuities
Sites and Symbols in Islamic Tradition
Art of the Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia
Eastern Mediterranean Architecture
Iconography of the Ancient Near East Seminar
Seminar in Neo-Assyrian Art
Seminar in Ancient Iranian Art
Art of the Ancient Near East
Art of Iran
Egyptian Art
Byzantine Art and Architecture
Early Medieval Architecture
Interconnections-Egypt, Near East, and Greece
Law
International Law in the Middle East Conflict
Talmudic Civil Law
Linguistics
Comparative Indo-European Grammar
Iranian
Seminar on History of Comparative Linguistics
Philosophy
Maimonides
Political Science
Comparative Politics in the Middle East
Hegemonic Analysis
Human Rights
International Politics of the Middle East
Israel, Russia, and the US
Military Politics in the Third World
Moscow and the Middle East
Muslim Political Thought
National Politics of Ethnicity
Nations, States, and Empires
Politics in the Contemporary Middle East
Regional Science (Graduate Group)
Courses drawn from Economics, Peace Science
Religious Studies
General
Evolution and Creation
Major Western Religious Thinkers
Medieval Jews, Christians and Muslims
Middle East Religion and Society
Myths and Religions of the Ancient World
Religions of the West
Religions of the Ancient Near East
Approaches to the Study of Mysticism
The Religion of Ancient Egypt
Archaeology and Society in the Holy Land
Judaism
Ancient Interpretation of the Bible
Dead Sea Scrolls
Great Books of Judaism
Jewish Folklore
History and Civilization of Ancient Israel
Introduction to Classical Judaism
Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
Introduction to Modern Judaism
Judaism in the Hellenistic Era
Jews, Judaism, and Modernity
Kabbalah and Hermeneutics
Modern Jewish Intellectual History
Modern Jewish Thought
Sex and Eros in Judaism
Seminar in Judaism and Christianity
Studies in Medieval Jewish Philosophy
Islam
Civilization of Medieval Islam
Introduction to the Qu'ran
Islam in South Asian Culture
Islamic History to 1517
Islamic Intellectual Traditions
Islamic Mysticism
Islamic Religion and Society
Sufi Texts
Topics in Islamic Religion
Women in Islam
Christianity
Biblical Themes in Christian Literature
Christian Origins
Christian Thought 200-1000
Early Christianity
Religion of the Ancient Near East
The Life and Letters of Paul
Sources for the Life of Jesus
Sociology
Law and Society
The Legal Profession
Graduate Degrees awarded 1998-1999
MA, 6(2 male/4 female)
PhD, 5 (4 male/1 female)
Joint Law Program Certificate (1 male)
Graduate Student Enrollment (2000)
Statistics are male/female
Ancient History, 6 (0/6)
Anthropology, 14 (8/6)
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, 59 (27/32)
Architecture, 4 (3/1)
Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, 4 (1/3)
City Planning, 4 (4/0)
Folklore, 2 (0/2)
History, 6 (4/2)
History of Art, 8 (1/7)
Political Science, 13 (8/5)
Religious Studies , 17 (10/7)
Sociology, 2 (0/2)
Faculty with research interests relevant to the Middle East
Anthropology (SAS)
Fredrik Hiebert (Archaeology of Central Asia and Turkey)
Bruce Routledge (Archaeology of the Levant)
Brian Spooner (Islam, rural economics, ecology and development, language
and culture, desertification)
Richard Zettler (Near Eastern archaeology)
Architecture (School of Fine Arts)
Nadia Al-Hasani (Architectural technology and production, architecture and
planning of non-Western world)
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (SAS)
Roger Allen (Arabic language and literature)
Dan Ben-Amos (Israeli and West African folk culture)
Nili Gold (Hebrew language and literature)
Barry Eichler (Akkadian, 2nd millennium/Biblical and ancient Near Eastern
law)
Ronit Engel (Hebrew)
Sabah Ghandour (Arabic literature)
David Goldenberg (Rabbinics)
Erle Leichty (Akkadian, 1st millennium/history)
Everett Rowson (Medieval Arabic literature, philosophy and social history)
Nechama Sataty (Hebrew)
David Silverman (Egyptian language and culture)
David Stern (Post-biblical studies)
Jeffrey Tigay (Biblical studies)
Steve Tinney (Mesopotamian languages and literature)
Josef Wegner (History and archaeology of Egypt and Nubia)
City and Regional Planning (School of Fine Arts)
John Keene (Urban development - Morocco)
Classical Studies (SAS)
Keith DeVries (Archaeology of Aegean and western Turkey)
Donald White (Archaeology of North Africa)
Economics (SAS)
Alan Heston (Economics of Middle East and South Asia)
Education (School of Education)
Daniel Wagner (Islamic education and literacy)
Geology (SAS)
Robert Giegengack (Geology of the Middle East)
Historic Preservation (School of Fine Arts)
Frank Matero (preservation - Egypt, Central Asia, Turkey)
History (SAS)
Lee Cassanelli (Islamic East Africa)
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet
Edward Peters (Contacts between Middle East and Medieval Europe)
History of Art (SAS)
Renata Holod (Islamic art and architecture)
Holly Pittman (Early Near Eastern art, imagery and writing)
Cecil L. Striker (Byzantine architecture)
Law (School of Law)
Harry Reicher (International law and law of the sea)
Legal Studies (Wharton School of Business)
Ann Mayer (Law in Modern Islam)
Linguistics (SAS)
George Cardona (Indo-European Linguistics)
Donald Ringe (Indo-European Linguistics)
Political Science (SAS)
Ian Lustick (Middle East politics, comparative politics, Arab-Israel
relations)
Alvin Rubinstein (Russia and the Middle East)
Robert Vitalis (Middle East Politics)
Religious Studies (SAS)
Robert Kraft (Greco-Roman religions, Judaism, early Christianity)
Barbara von Schlegell (Islam, Sufism)
Director, Middle East Center
Robert Vitalis
Scholarships/Graduate Support
FLAS Fellowships (academic year and summer)
University Dissertation Fellowships are available. Individual departments
administer university and teaching fellowships. Faculty
Fellowships via U. of PA Center for Judaic Studies (formerly Annenberg
Research Institute). Mellon post-doctoral fellowships in Humanities
available via School of Arts and Sciences.
Special Features
Elementary and intermediate levels of Persian and Turkish are taught
through the Penn Language Center which also provides instruction in other
Middle Eastern languages on demand; regular seminars cover Arab, Iranian,
Turkic and Israeli Studies (ancient, medieval, and modern); International Literacy Institute with ongoing programs with Morocco and Tunisia and opportunities for graduate participation. Bayt al Arabi (Arabic House) - the newest language section of the Modern Languages Program within Gregory House residence. Janet Lee Stevens Award for graduate students in Arabic.
Inquiries
For general information on Middle East Studies graduate programs:
Middle East Center
202 South 36th St, 3rd Fl
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6227
215-898-6335
fax 215-573-2003
info@mec.sas.upenn.edu
http://mec.sas.upenn.edu/
For graduate admissions information:
General information and on-line application:
http:// www.sas.upenn.edu/GAS/admissions.html
For a printed copy of the graduate catalogue, send $6.00 (US)/$10 (abroad)
to):

The Graduate Studies Office
16 College Hall
Philadelphia PA 19104-6378
www.upenn.edu/VPGE/catalog.html

For Mellon Post-doctoral Fellowship in Humanities information:
The Penn Humanities Forum
School of Arts and Sciences
116 Bennett Hall
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6273
215-898-8220
fax 215-238-1540
humanities@mail.sas.upenn.edu
http://humanities.sas.upenn.edu/fellowships.html#Mellon

Center for Judaic Studies

Program
Postdoctoral research
Middle East Languages
see Special Features

Courses
workshops, seminars, colloquia, symposia

Special Features
The main program consists of postdoctoral research conducted in Judaic studies by fellows (10-13 in number) who are appointed, generally, on an annual basis. Each year there will be a topic or theme, on which most, but not all, of the fellows will be engaged in research. Fellows will be chosen from senior through junior level, and advanced graduate students will also be considered. Notice of each year's program is given in relevant scholarly journals approximately 18 months in advance of the year.

Inquiries
Secretary
Fellowship Program
Center for Judaic Studies
420 Walnut St.
Philadelphia PA 19106
215-238-1290
fax 215-238-1540
allenshe@mail.sas.upenn.edu
www.cjs.upenn.edu