College of Arts and Sciences

Departmental E-mail: nelc [at] indiana [dot] edu

Departmental URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~nelc/

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Special Departmental Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Admission Requirements

International applicants (non-U.S. citizens, non green–card holders) are required to submit TOEFL scores only. U.S. ap­plicants (U.S. citizens or green–card holders) are required to submit GRE scores only.

Exceptions:

1. International applicants who have their bachelor’s degree from an American institution in the U.S. should normally submit GRE scores only. Consult the director of graduate studies or chair.
2. U.S. citizens who have been educated abroad (e.g., dual nationals from the Arab world) and have their bachelor’s degree from non-U.S., non–English language institutions, should normally submit TOEFL scores only. Consult the director of graduate studies or chair.

Master of Arts in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC)

Course Requirements

A minimum of 36 credit hours of graduate work, including a minimum of 6 credit hours of History of the Middle East, 3 credit hours of a methodology/theory course, and 12 credit hours of advanced training (equivalent to 4th year proficiency) in a Middle Eastern language (a second language is strongly rec­ommended for students intending to pursue also a Ph.D.). Each student’s specific course plan must be approved in advance by the student’s faculty advisors and the Director of Graduate Studies.
 
Examinations

Each student must successfully pass comprehensive written M.A. examinations. The exams will include two 2-hour exams covering the student’s general knowledge of the Middle East and the students’ major language. Each student must also submit a written paper in English, demonstrating a clear under­standing of the chosen topic, the ability to conceive and carry out an original, scholarly project using primary and secondary texts in the original language, an advanced level of critical or theoretical insight, and competence in the use of research and bibliographic tools.
 
Students must notify the Director of Graduate Studies of their intention to take the M.A. examinations before the end of the preceding semester. The examining committee will be com­posed of a minimum of two faculty members. Students who fail an exam may be offered one opportunity to re-take it. Those who do not successfully pass the exams by the end of their sixth semester may be placed on probation and subsequently dismissed from the program for lack of progress as described in the “Academic Regulations” section of the Bulletin.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC)

Admission Requirements

The Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) is required for domestic applicants. International students are required to submit their TOEFL scores. Students should hold an M.A. for admission to the Ph.D. program. Students holding an M.A. from another institution should include a writing sample as part of their application for admission. Students with an M.A. from the Indiana University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) will be asked to submit a state­ment of their Ph.D. plans as part of their admission dossier to the Ph.D. program. Successful completion of the NELC M.A. does not guarantee admission to the NELC Ph.D. program.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 75 credit hours of graduate work (including credits earned for the M.A.), plus dissertation. The students’ courses must be approved by the Ph.D. advisor and the Direc­tor of Graduate Studies.

Language Requirements

Three languages are required for the NELC Ph.D.:

1. The major NELC language (normally Arabic, Hebrew, Per­sian, or Turkish): a minimum of 12 credit hours beyond the 18 required for the M.A. for continuing students or above the third-year level for incoming students, in courses ap­proved by the director of graduate studies.
2. The minor NELC language (normally, Arabic, Hebrew, Per­sian, or Turkish): minimum of 6 credit hours at the third-year level or above in courses approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. Biblical and Modern Hebrew at the elementary and intermediate levels can be combined to satisfy the third-year level requirement with the approval of the director of graduate studies.
3. A European research language (normally, French, German or Spanish), tested according to the graduate school’s rules.

The choice of languages must be pertinent to the student’s graduate curriculum and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. Other languages may be substituted where deemed appropriate by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Outside Minor

Students are required to minor in an outside department or program. Students must fulfill the relevant department’s rules for outside minors.

Qualifying Examination

Students will be examined on one major and two minor NELC fields. The three fields should be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. Written examinations will be given by at least two professors, the major field lasting for three hours, and the minor field exams for two hours each. Upon successful completion of the written examinations, a student will take the oral examination within four weeks of the written examination. These examinations may be retaken once in whole or in part at the discretion of the examination committee.

Final Examination

Oral defense of the dissertation.

Ph.D. Minor in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Students from other departments are welcome to minor in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures as part of their doctoral program. To do so, they are required to take at least 12 credit hours of graduate-level course work, to be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies so as to form a coherent program. Students must maintain a 3.0 grade point average for the minor as a whole. Up to 12 credit hours may be transferred from other institutions toward the NELC outside Ph.D. minor, but at least 6 credit hours must be completed in the IU NELC depart­ment.

Termination of Enrollment in the Doctoral Program

If a doctoral student fails the written qualifying examinations twice, fails the oral qualifying exam twice, falls below a 3.5 av­erage, or fails to complete the written and oral examinations by the end of the approved length of time, the director of gradu­ate studies, in consultation with the research committee, can initiate steps to terminate the student’s enrollment in the program.