The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) engages in the interdisciplinary humanistic study and teaching of the cultures of the Near East (often called the Middle East) as they express themselves in languages and texts, including both written and oral sources, as well as art, architecture, archaeology and material culture.
News
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
NELC Graduate Student Kaley Keener Awarded Hopkinson Fellowship
NELC PhD Student Kaley Keener has been awarded a Hopkinson Fellowship by the SAS Graduate Division, in recognition of her superlative academic performance.
Dr. Anny Gaul Guest Speaker for Bite-Sized Talks Event 3/27/23
On March 27, 2023, Dr. Anny Gaul led a lively lecture and discussion for the third Bite-Sized Talks event, “How Do You Say 'Tomato' in Egyptian?”
Penn Visiting Scholar Margaret Geoga Appointed Assistant Professor of Egyptology at The University of Chicago
Margaret (Maggie) Geoga, who has been a visiting scholar in NELC during the 2022-23 year as an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Wolf Humanities Center, has accepted a position at the University of Chicago as Assistant Professor of Egyptology.
Beloved professor, Dan Ben-Amos, passes away
We in the NELC department mourn the loss of Dan Ben-Amos who passed away on March 26, 2023. Dan was a great mentor, committed teacher, and wonderful colleague and friend. Learning and scholarship meant the world to him.
2021-2022 NELC Newsletter Volume 3
We wanted to let you know what we've been up to since our last issue.
Click hereto view or download Volume 3!
Check back for our next issue due out late in 2023.
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We'd love to hear from you!
2021-2022 NELC NewsletterEvents
Deciphering Violence and Resistance
This is Not a Poem
Fatemeh Shams
Books
The Ten Commandments: Monuments of Memory, Belief, and Interpretation
The Decalogue, commonly known as the Ten Commandments, is usually analyzed as a text. Within the Hebrew Bible, however, it is depicted as a monument– an artifact embedded in rituals that a communit
Legal Writing, Legal Practice: The Biblical Bailment Law and Devine Justice
Prescriptive law writings rarely mirror the ways a society practices law, a fact that raises special problems for the social and legal historian.
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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