The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations offers eleven distinct graduate programs in different fields of study, all of which are concerned in some way with the peoples and civilizations of the Near East.

Harvard's library resources in the various fields of Near Eastern Studies are virtually unparalleled. Widener Library, for example, has vast holdings in Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish and Yiddish literature. The reading room of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Andover-Harvard Theological Library of the Harvard Divinity School also have excellent resources available to students. Also at the Divinity School is the Center for the Study of World Religions. Students wishing to specialize in modern Near Eastern political or social studies should familiarize themselves with the resources and personnel of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, as well as the Islamic Legal Studies Program at the Harvard Law School.

Those interested in Jewish studies should become familiar with the resources and personnel of the Center for Jewish Studies. The Harvard Semitic Museum, in which the Department is housed, has a superb collection of ancient and medieval artifacts representing many of the cultures of the Near East. As a University teaching museum, the Semitic Museum is committed to providing access to these materials for study and teaching. For students interested in Biblical or other ancient Near Eastern studies, or in the archaeology of the Near East, a variety of opportunities for archaeological work in the Middle East are available. These include the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, which is conducted by the Harvard Semitic Museum under the directorship of Professor Lawrence E. Stager of NELC.