Degrees Offered: Ph.D.
The Joint Ph.D. program in Near Eastern Religions is the only one of its kind in this country. The rich faculty resources of the Near Eastern Studies department at the University of California, Berkeley and the Biblical Studies Area of the Graduate Theological Union are combined to provide students a variety of areas of concentration. The student’s own interests and resources can be combined in creative and innovative ways with the opportunities offered by the program. The expansive library holdings of the University and GTU libraries complement the depth of faculty resources available to students in the program. The Ph.D. degree is granted jointly by the Graduate Theological Union and the University of California, Berkeley.

Students may study, in depth, the archaeology, history, languages, literatures, and thought patterns of the ancient Near East and Egypt, with emphasis on various forms of the religious expression of these ancient peoples.

Among the fields students may study are: biblical or Near Eastern archaeology; the comparative religions of the ancient Near East; early post-biblical Hebrew literature; Hebrew Bible (history, literature, or theology); Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Canaanite or Iranian religion and mythology. Minor fields may include any of those listed, and also later Judaica, early Christian literature, history and archeology (to the end of the first century C.E.). Interpretive approaches include cognitive archaelogy, feminist readings, anthropological modeling, new historicism, cultural studies, rhetorical analysis, and queer theory.

Some sample programs, listing the major, two minors and appropriate ancient languages:

• Hebrew Bible, Mesopotamian Religion, Near Eastern Archaeology; Hebrew and Akkadian.
• Comparative Religion, History and Culture of the Ancient Near East, Hebrew Bible; Hebrew, Akkadian and Hittite.
• Iranian Religion, Literature of the Ancient Near East, Mesopotamian History and Culture; Iranian and Akkadian.
• Mesopotamian Religion, Hebrew Bible, Near Eastern Archaeology; Akkadian and Hebrew.
• Biblical Archaeology, Ancient Near Eastern History and Literature, Biblical Literature; Hebrew, Ugaritic and Akkadian.
• Biblical Literature, Later Judaica, Early Christian Literature, History or Archaeology; Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
• Hebrew Bible, Egyptian History, Biblical Archaeology; Hebrew and Egyptian.
• New Testament, Roman society, Roman religions; Greek and Latin.
• Egyptian Religion, Literature of the Ancient Near East; Akkadian, Sumerian and Hebrew.
• Mythology, Hebrew Bible, Literature of the Ancient Near East; Akkadian, Sumerian and Hebrew.
• Early Post-Biblical Hebrew Literature, Judaica, Ancient Near Eastern Religions; Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

Admission Requirements
To be admitted to the Joint Degree program, a student must have an accredited B.A. and an M.A. (or its equivalent) in Near Eastern or biblical studies, or a related field from an accredited academic institution. The student must also have competence in at least two ancient languages and one modern foreign language appropriate for the proposed program.

Applicants must be accepted by both the University of California Graduate Division and the Graduate Theological Union. Separate admissions committees from each institution make recommendations to the Executive Committee for the Joint Doctoral Program.

Application Procedure
Applications are considered once a year for admission to the following fall semester. Joint Degree students apply both to UCB and to GTU. Applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered by December 15. Applicants are expected to meet the criteria of both institutions and are formally reviewed and accepted by both. All forms should be completed for each institution and separate supporting documents sent to each.

Applications include a statement of academic purpose, an academic writing sample, official transcripts from all previous institutions, three academic letters of recommendation, and a GRE or TOEFL examination.

All applicants from a country in which English is the official language are required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) within a five year period prior to submitting an application to the Joint Program. The GRE results are but one factor in determining admission to the Program, and they are critical in the determination of certain grants and fellowships granted on a competitive university wide basis.

Applicants from countries in which the official language is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

To request applications, contact:
Admissions Office
Graduate Theological Union
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley CA 94709
510-649-2460
gtuadm@gtu.edu

Graduate Assistant
Dept. of Near Eastern Studies
Graduate Assistant, Near Eastern Studies
250 Barrows Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
510-642-6162
shattuck@uclink4.berkeley.edu

To apply online to the GTU:
www.applyweb.com/apply/gtu/menu.html

To apply online to UCB:
www.grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/online_app_inst.shtml

General Requirements
The program requires at least two years of residence. Students must spend one year in residence at GTU, the other at UCB. Students register in alternate years at the two institutions during the rest of their program.

There are no specific class requirements. Courses of study, which are individually tailored to the student’s needs and interests, are approved by the Program Advisor representing both the University and the GTU. The student will select those courses most pertinent to his or her major field and two minor fields, while working to fulfill the language requirements of at least two ancient and two modern languages, one of which would normally be German. The student may choose to have the language examinations administered according to the procedures of either the GTU or the Department of Near Eastern Studies at UCB.

Comprehensive Examinations
Students are expected to pass comprehensive qualifying exams in one major and two minor fields, as well as two appropriate ancient languages. The student forms a four-person qualifying examination committee consisting of two members from the GTU and two academic senate members from UCB. One member from the department of Near Eastern Studies and the other member from another department. This committee will be formed in consultation with the Graduate Advisor. The chair of this committee may not later serve as chair of the student’s dissertation committee. The qualifying examination committee supervises the exam and determines whether the candidate may proceed to the dissertation.

Dissertation
After passing Qualifying Examinations, the student consults with the Graduate Advisor and chooses a five-person dissertation and oral defense committee. The Executive Committee approves the committee, upon recommendation of the Graduate Advisor and pending final approval from the GTU Dean. The committee is made up of three readers representing both the University and the GTU, appointed to guide the student in his or her research and pass judgment on the merits of the dissertation, and two additional members appointed for the final defense of the dissertation. One member of the committee must be from a Department at UCB other than Near Eastern Studies.

Normally, after a student has been admitted to candidacy, he or she will be expected to complete the dissertation within three years (six semesters). To this total accrued time of three years can be added a maximum of a two year grace period. Students must follow all GTU and UCB procedures for the completion and deposit of dissertations. All students are required to have an oral examination. Further details about the Joint Degree Program are available in the office of Near Eastern Studies at UCB or in the GTU Dean of Students' Office.

Fees

The NER program is eligible for the Dean's Normative Time Fellowship (DNTF).  If a student in NER advances to candidacy within its set normative time to advancement, the student's fees are paid at UCB (only) for two semesters during the student's time in candidacy, and the student also receives a $15,000 stipend. (Please see this webpage for more information:  http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/degrees/dntf.shtml.)  The DNTF is not automatic.

Faculty Resources
The Joint Doctoral program is administered by a six-member Executive Committee composed of faculty from both the GTU and UCB. Three members are appointed from the UCB Department of Near Eastern Studies and three members are usually appointed from the Biblical Studies Area at GTU (one GTU member may be from the Center for Jewish Studies). The combined GTU and UCB faculty are drawn from a rich and diverse group of eminent teachers and scholars with a broad range of expertise and interests. They include the following:

FROM UCB
ROBERT B. ALTER • Comparative Literature and Hebrew Literature
DANIEL BOYARIN • Talmudic Literature, Rabbinics, Medieval Hebrew Literature
RONALD HENDEL • Ancient Hebrew Language, Literature, Religion and Culture
CATHLEEN A. KELLER • Ancient Egyptian Language, History, Religion, Art
CAROL REDMOUNT • Egyptian and Syro-Palestinian Archaeology
MARTIN SCHWARTZ • Pre-Islamic Iranian Language, Culture and Society
DAVID STRONACH • Near Eastern Archaeology
NIEK VELDHUS • Sumerian, Cuneiform and Akkadian Literature

FROM GTU
AARON BRODY • Assistant Professor of Bible and Archaeology
Archaeology and the study of biblical cultures; society of ancient Israel; Near Eastern religions; Canaanite and Phoenician cultures.

ROBERT COOTE • Professor of Old Testament
Use of Old Testament in Mark; composition of prophetic books; Third Isaiah; Introduction to Old Testament prophets.

JOHN C. ENDRES, SJ • Professor of Sacred Scripture
Books of Chronicles; Psalms and Wisdom literature; Book of Jubilees; Intertestamental literature; Dead Sea Scrolls.

LEANN SNOW FLESHER • Professor of Old Testament
Biblical laments; Canonical Esther; wisdom literature and the book of Job; Psalms.

BARBARA GREEN, OP • Professor of Biblical Studies
1 Samuel; Mikhail Bakhtin and biblical studies.

GINA HENS-PIAZZA • Professor of Biblical Studies
Prophets; Deuteronomistic history; cultural poetics; literary and feminist studies.

KAH-JIN (JEFFREY) KUAN • Associate Professor of Old Testament
Ancient Near Eastern history in the first millennium BCD; Israelite and Judean history in the First Temple period; history of biblical interpretation in Asia; pluralism and Old Testament theology; Asian-American Biblical Hermeneutics; the Book of Joshua; the Book of Job.