The curriculum is adjustable to the individual needs of students who are considering careers in diplomacy, business, the media, or international public and private agencies as related to the Near East. The Program in Near Eastern Studies enables students to add to their doctoral training in a discipline a coordinated course of study in the languages, contemporary institutions, and modern history of the Near East. Students from other departments who have an interest in Near Eastern studies may enter the program by special arrangement with the director. Their work is guided by their own departmental adviser and the director of the Program in Near Eastern Studies. The program awards fellowships through the aforementioned cooperating departments.
Students follow the course of study in their department, with certain exceptions.
Students in Near Eastern studies normally take Near East seminars in at least two other departments. These seminars are described in the various departmental announcements. The Program in Near Eastern Studies also facilitates doctoral courses of study that bridge customary disciplinary or subject boundaries, e.g., European and Near Eastern history, international relations with emphasis on the Near East plus another world area, economic development and comparative politics, or the comparative study of colonialism and empires. The general examination is conducted by the departments in consultation with the director of the program. The doctoral dissertation is written on a Near Eastern subject.