The AHMA program combines an open curriculum with rigorous examinations to produce innovative scholars fully trained in the technical skills necessary to become distinguished researchers and effective teachers. The program is distinguished by its commitment to interdisciplinary approaches to the ancient past, including the study of material culture, broadly construed, and interests in the ancient Near East as well as the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. Prospective applicants to AHMA should also read, as relevant to their interests, about the separate programs in Anthropology, Classics, History, History of Art, and Near Eastern Studies in order to determine which program would best fit their interests. Despite the distinct programs, students in all of them combine to form a large and vibrant intellectual community, participating in many of the same seminars, attending the same events, and working with the same faculty. The University of California at Berkeley offers an interdisciplinary program of graduate study in Ancient History and Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean Archaeology (AHMA). The program is conducted by an inter- disciplinary Group that includes more than twenty faculty members affiliated with seven different UC Berkeley departments and the Graduate Theological Union. A Chair, a Graduate Advisor, and Student Affairs Officers administer the program. The AHMA program offers MA and PhD degrees in areas that combine work in archaeology and history and related disciplines of ancient studies. Most of its graduates have successfully secured teaching positions in Departments of Classics, Art History, History, Anthropology or Near Eastern Studies in colleges and universities in the U.S. or abroad, including Bar-Ilan, Haifa, Volos, Oxford, Toronto, Columbia, Madison, Austin, and Penn. Students in "the Group," as the AHMA program is also known, are expected to acquire command of two ancient and two modern languages; to enroll in advanced courses and seminars from two or more departments; and to obtain practical archaeological experience. All requirements for the PhD degree (from entrance with either a BA or an MA to completion of the dissertation) must be concluded within a period of eight years. Students who enter with a BA are required to complete a Qualifying Paper (which may be converted into an MA) before proceeding to the PhD. Students are considered as making satisfactory progress if they submit their Qualifying Paper during the fourth semester after admission and complete all PhD requirements except the dissertation within five years after admission. This allows for two years--or more in some cases--for the writing of the dissertation. Highly motivated and well-prepared students may complete the program more quickly.

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