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Arts & Humanities

PhD Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures (Middle Eastern Literatures & Societies) at University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania, United States

Programme overview

Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC). MELC’s PhD program in Middle Eastern Literatures and Societies offers advanced study of the languages, literatures and societies of Islamic civilizations, and also Islamic history and thought in their Middle Eastern context, in modern and pre-modern settings. Students in the Middle Eastern Literatures and Societies program are expected to command Arabic or Persian as a primary research language and another (usually Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or Hebrew) as a secondary research language, as well as the general history and culture of the region.

Faculty: School of Arts and Sciences  |  Duration: 23 course units  |  Study mode: full-time  |  Location: Philadelphia, PA, United States

What you will study

Requires 23 course units in total. Listed required courses include PERS 5550 Introduction to Kurdish.

Official programme page

Application information

USD 46,540 a year (2026-27). Full tuition rate for PhD programs for 2026-2027 (Annenberg, Arts & Sciences, Design, Education, Social Policy & Practice, Engineering, Nursing, Wharton and Biomedical Sciences share this rate). Most PhD programs fully fund students for at least 4 years, Source

Each graduate and professional programme has its own admissions process and entry terms; applicants apply directly to the programme of interest.

Graduate and professional programmes are housed in 12 schools; each programme has a separate admissions process and applicants apply directly to the programme of interest.

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