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
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.
Weston Bland Named 2022-2023 Dean's Scholar
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations congratulates our own Weston Bland (PhD Candidate), who was named a 2022-2023 Dean's Scholar. Weston will be honored at the Stephen A. Levin Family Dean's Forum for his outstanding academic performance and intellectual promise.
Zaid Tabaza on Veganism in the Middle East
Zaid Tabaza discusses his veganism and its intersection with Middle Eastern culture in today's edition of Penn Today. Tabaza explored this connection while a student in Professor Heather Sharkey's "Food in the Islamic Middle East" class.
Feride Hatiboglu Elected to NCOLCTL Board
The National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) has elected our very own Feride Hatiboglu to their board, for a 2-year term beginning October 1st, 2022. In her capacity as current president of the American Association of Teachers of Turkic La
Dr. Gross Named IAS Member for AY 2023
The Institute for Advanced Studies has announced Dr. Simcha Gross as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow for Assistant Professors for the 2022-2023 academic year. Dr.
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.
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 otheresa@sas.upenn.edu.
We'd love to hear from you!
2021-2022 NELC NewsletterBooks
The Grammar of Perspective: The Sumerian Conjugation Prefixes as a System of Voice
The so-called Sumerian conjugation prefixes are the most poorly understood and perplexing elements of Sumerian verbal morphology.
