About Us

The Harvard Near East Society (HNES) is dedicated to the study and promotion of the ancient and modern Near East in the Harvard community and especially among graduate students. The HNES seeks to create a university-wide intellectual environment that will facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue and foster a sense of community among the disparate but related fields whose purview is the Near East. The HNES is geographically oriented, spanning the region from Egypt to Iran and related areas, and encompasses, but is not limited to, the study of religion, literature, philology, history, and archaeology. The HNES provides a forum for dynamic exchange among the many academic departments in Harvard whose work pertains to the Near East.

Our Activities

We organize events where students can share their intellectual interests and build relationships with colleagues in a wide range of academic fields
We sponsor speakers and workshops
We create an annual graduate student academic conference

Our Members

All students currently enrolled in PhD or AM degrees programs in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Any Harvard graduate student interested in the ancient or modern Near East.

HNES has 45 active members as of 12/2005.

Our Officers

President: Adam Aja (Archaeology)
Vice-President: Yaqub Hilal (Jewish Studies)
Treasurer: Emily Hammer (Anthropology)
Secretary: James Osborne (Archaeology)

Our Steering Committee:

Akkadian & Sumerian Studies: Anne Browder
Arabic and Islamic Studies: Nicola Carpentieri
Archaeology of the Levant: Adam Aja
Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: Jonathan Kaplan
Hebrew Bible ThD program: John Whitley
Iranian and Persian Studies: Dan Sheffield
Jewish Studies: Jessica Munitz and Aryay Finkelstein
Semitic Philology: Na'ama Pat-El
Yiddish Language & Literature: Kelly Johnson
Indo-Muslim Culture: Supriya Gandhi
Department of Anthropology: Güner Coskunsu
Department of the History of Art and Architecture: Melissa Eppihimer