The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations is now the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures!
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Fall 2024 Hebrew Placement Exam
Students planning on taking Modern Hebrew in Fall 2024 should take the placement examination to ensure they are placed in the right level.
The exam will be held in Claudia Cohen Hall, Room 402 on Thursday, August 22, 2024 from 4:00 to 6:00PM. Pre-registration is not required.
NELC PhD Candidate Rawad Wehbe Wins Penn Grad Talks
NELC PhD Candidate Rawad Wehbe was announced the winner for the Humanities Division of the 2024 Penn Grad Talks. His winning talk is entitled, "All My Friends Are Dead: Time, Emotion, and Form in Early Islamic Poetry."
Congratulations, Rawad!
A Symposium in Honor of Dan Ben-Amos
On November 19, 2023, PENN faculty and students, as well as long-time Folklore colleagues, came together to remember the legacy of Dan Ben-Amos, Professor of Folklore and Folklife. We were honored to also have Dan’s family in attendance – his wife, Dr.
Professor Fatemeh Shams Named 2024 Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies
NELC Professor Fatemeh Shams was named the 2024 Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies at the Peace and Conflicts Studies Institute (PACSI) at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Professor Heather Sharkey Featured in Omnia
In "Writing for Wikipedia," Professor Sharkey talks with Omnia's Susan Ahlborn about how she engages her students in independent research, teaching them how to research, write, and navigate issues of copyright, using assignments focused on creating and curating content on Wikipedia.
New Books by Dr. Grant Frame and Dr. Joshua Jeffers
Congratulations to Professor Emeritus of Assyriology, Dr. Grant Frame, and Lecturer of Akkadian and Biblical Hebrew, Dr.
Feride Hatiboglu on Supporting Less Commonly Taught Languages
Feride Hatiboglu, lecturer in foreign languages and coordinator of the Turkish Language Program, talked to Penn Today about supporting less commonly taught languages. Feride was recently named President Elect of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL).
Feride Hatiboglu Elected President of the NCOLCTL
Feride Hatiboglu, Lecturer in Foreign Languages and Coordinator of the Turkish Language Program, has been elected as President of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL). She will serve as President-Elect for 2023 before moving into her role as President in 2024.
NELC Graduate Student Kaley Zinaty Wins Ibn Sina Award
NELC PhD Student Kaley Zinaty has been awarded the Ibn Sina Award for Student Writing in Islamic Studies. Her winning paper is entitled, "Man! I Read Like a Woman: A Gendered Reading of Kitab al-Muntakhab fī ‘Uṣūl al-Rutab."
Congratulations, Kaley!
Prof. Shams' Translated Poetry Collection Wins Summer 2022 Chapbook Competition
Poetry International announced the winners of their Summer 2022 Chapbook Competition. Berlin, a translated collection of Professor Fatemeh Sh
2022-2023 NELC Newsletter Volume 4
We wanted to let you know what we've been up to since our last issue.
Click here to view or download Volume 4!
Check back for our next issue due out late in 2024.
If you want to be added to our mailing list or have news you'd like to share in the newsletter, please send a request to [email protected].
We'd love to hear from you!
2022-2023 NELC Newsletter
Alumni Spotlight
Pezavia O’Connell, PhD
Methodist Minister Activist, Educator , Scholar of Hebrew
Pezavia O'Connell (1861–1930) was an African American Methodist minister, activist, educator, and scholar of Hebrew. He received a PhD in 1898 for a dissertation entitled, "Synonyms of the Clean and Unclean in Hebrew.” This distinction made him the first African American to earn a PhD in Semitic languages in the United States. Born to a family of…
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