Graduate Program

The Institute plans to have a doctoral program, which it is hoped will admit its first students for fall, 2009. A detailed proposal for this program will be submitted to the relevant authorities inside New York University and then in New York State; only after State approval will the program be advertised and applications sought.

ISAW's doctoral program in the ancient world will be distinctive in its flexibility and breadth. It embraces the disciplines relevant to a comprehensive understanding of the entire Old World in antiquity. ISAW will admit only students with sufficient preparation in at least one discipline or domain to allow them to take full advantage of ISAW's range of interests, who are capable of working with a high degree of independence and individual supervision, and who are committed to integrated scholarly inquiry crossing boundaries of time, place, and discipline. At the same time, it will offer rich opportunities for collegial learning and exposure to new perspectives within a research community.

Prospective students will be judged by both brilliance of promise and strength of preparation, so as to focus quickly on larger research goals. They will receive full funding for at least five years, in the form of a fellowship. Teaching opportunities will be available through NYU, in order to help students prepare for this dimension of an academic career. Ph.D. degrees will be awarded through the Graduate School of Arts and Science at NYU. Students will be encouraged to take advantage of all New York City's resources, including those of NYU, Columbia University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other institutions in the New York City area and beyond.