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The College of Arts & Sciences
We offer undergraduates and graduate students the opportunity to study the languages, literatures, cultures, religions and history of regions from the ancient Sumer to the modern Middle East. We also help to educate students and the wider academic community about cross-cultural, trans-historical and inter-religious issues related to the region.
Professor Ziad Fahmy won the 2021 Best Book in Non-North America Urban History award from the Urban History Association (UHA) for his book "Street Sounds: Listening to Everyday Life in Modern Egypt," (Stanford University Press, 2020).
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A&S faculty offer book and poetry recommendations for the new year.
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A $5 million alumni gift will help to support doctoral students in humanities fields within the College of Arts & Sciences.
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Professors Adam Smith and Lori Khatchadourian comment on the International Court of Justice's decision on cultural heritage protection.
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The program connects undergraduates in A&S with opportunities to work side by side on research with Cornell faculty from across the College.
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Church members and a multidisciplinary team of Cornell faculty and students are learning more about St. James A.M.E. Zion Church by doing an archaeological dig.
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Interested in exploring the languages, literatures, cultures, religions, and history of the Middle East from antiquity to the modern day? Consider pursuing a major in Near Eastern Studies.
We also offer undergraduate minors in Arabic and Near Eastern Studies.
Explore the diversity of the Middle East in a class like "Wondrous Literatures of the Near East" (NES 2754) or "Islam and Gender" (NES 2270).
We offer classes on a wide range of topics, regions, and time periods of the Middle East.
Take Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, or Persian to fulfill the College of Arts & Sciences language requirement!
We also offer instruction in some of the ancient Near Eastern languages like Akkadian and Biblical Hebrew.
See all of the Near Eastern languages taught in the department.