近东方语言与文明系（NELC）对研究生进行了100多年的培训，并被公认为世界上最优秀的博士课程之一。NELC的博士生通过各种学科方法研究语言，文学，文明，宗教，物质文化或古代，中世纪或近东近代历史的方法，选择侧重于该系之一。研究领域。攻读博士学位的学生将获得为期五年的资助，并获得补充资助的机会。学生还将获得作为教学助理和讲师的教学经验。
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) has trained graduate students for more than 100 years and is recognized among the finest doctoral programs in the world. PhD students in NELC approach the study of the languages, literatures, civilizations, religions, material culture or history of the ancient, medieval or modern Near East through a variety of disciplinary approaches, choosing a focus on one of the department's fields of study. NELC students are members of a robust and vibrant academic community dedicated to the academic study of the Near East. The department is home to more than 40 faculty members and over 80 graduate students, each pursuing their studies with the scholarly rigor and interdisciplinary approach that is characteristic of the Chicago intellectual tradition. The department includes archaeologists, historians, linguists, philologists and scholars of law, literature and of religion. The community also includes research institutions which bring scholars from inside and outside the University of Chicago together for lectures, research projects, and publications. The Oriental Institute houses a world-class library and museum focused on the peoples and civilizations of the ancient Near East. The Regenstein Library is home to one of the leading Middle East collections in North America. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies is a Title VI National Resource Center which supports research and teaching and administers an MA program in Middle Eastern Studies. The department publishes a leading academic journal, the Journal of Near Eastern Studies.