![Al-Idrisi's world map](https://humanities.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/NELC-photo-for-Academics-page-crop-for-web.jpg)
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures brings together a variety of cultural and linguistic studies, both ancient and modern, into a vibrant interdisciplinary whole. We make cultural studies of the Middle East relevant to undergraduate students and the Los Angeles community; in our graduate programs, we create the next generation of experts in the ancient Near Eastern and modern Middle Eastern region.