Founded in 1979, the Department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures (NESA) makes it a priority to create an equal balance between the study of languages and the study of cultures. Both areas have a rich ancient history and are intricately intertwined.
In addition to its four undergraduate majors (Arabic, Hebrew, Islamic Studies, and Jewish Studies) and its seven undergraduate minors (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Jewish Studies, Jewish Oral History, South Asia Studies, and Turkish), NESA offers courses both in English and in other modern and ancient languages for its own students, as part of the University’s General Education (GE) curriculum, and for graduate students across the university.