I wish to study Ancient Languages

[Oedipus765]

What colleges and universities offer courses in ancient languages? I recently attended a college fair and to no avail! I sought out universities which offer Hebrew, Greek, Latin and maybe hieroglyphics as a Major. If you can help me locate an institution I also wonder which Jobs I can hold with these degrees?

[merc81]

Greek and Latin language studies through the advanced level will be present at any college that offers a classics major. Greek and Roman Studies, or something similar, may appear as an alternative designation. Hebrew, though less common, may also be available at some of these schools.

I also wonder which jobs I can hold with these degrees

This site, though not necessarily representative, shows careers entered by classics-major graduates: https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/departments/Home?dept=classics.

[Publisher]

Classics is a major area of study offered at Princeton.

[Coloradomama]

Case Western Reserve U in Ohio has an excellent Greek and Latin Classics program and also Hebrew Language.
http://classics.case.edu

Also look at Cornell, UC Berkeley, U of Chicago.

[mikemac]

I also wonder which Jobs I can hold with these degrees?

You have misunderstood the point of a liberal arts degree. There are some degrees that are career oriented (engineering, nursing, business, etc). With liberal arts you are qualified for careers that look for people with a college degree but are not trained for anything in particular. Many students pursue activities in addition to schoolwork (internships, career clubs, etc) to prepare for a specific field.

[happymomof1]

Skip the college fairs for now. Use one of the search engines. Here is my favorite: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

Look for Ancient Near Eastern Languages, Classical Languages, and Ancient History programs to help begin to find the places for your list.

[warblersrule]

Classics programs aren’t that rare. Here’s two lists:

https://classics.nd.edu/about/resources/classics-around-the-world/

https://classicalstudies.org/education/graduate-programs-north-america

A fair number of colleges offer Biblical Hebrew and Sanskrit in various departments (Classics, Religious Studies, South Asian Studies, Near/Middle Eastern Studies, etc.), so check the course listings of colleges of interest.

The more obscure ancient languages like ancient Egyptian and the various cuneiform languages are offered at very, very few universities. I’d rank them as follows:

TIER 1

University of Chicago

TIER 2

Brown University
Cornell University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
New York University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Toronto (Canada)
Yale University

TIER 3

Penn State University
University of California-Los Angeles

A few other universities offer such languages occasionally (Boston U, U Wisconsin, U Washington, U Minnesota, etc.) but less regularly than the schools above.

[Twoin18]

Classics and Oriental Studies at Oxford would seem to be an obvious candidate if you can get in and can afford it:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses-listing/classics-and-oriental-studies

[tk21769]

“Ancient Languages” covers a lot of ground.
Generally, you’ll find the deepest/widest coverage at large, well-funded state universities (such as Berkeley or Michigan) and at highly selective private research universities (like Harvard, UChicago, UPenn).
See the list in post #6.

In addition to the departments @warblersrule mentions, you might also want to consider Chinese departments that offer classical Chinese courses. In most cases, to get to an advanced course that covers classical Chinese, you’d first need to take 2-3 years of modern standard Chinese.

If you get anywhere close to mastering modern standard Chinese you’ll probably find it is a much more marketable skill than a knowledge of Sanscrit, ancient Egyptian, or ancient Greek/Latin. Chinese skills are more or less in demand in the federal government and among international businesses. A good working knowledge of ancient/classical Chinese (not an easy thing to acquire) would open doors to a huge body of ancient literature, inscriptions, etc.

[warblersrule]

^
Agreed. Alternatively, translators for the indigenous languages of Central America like Nahuatl, Mixtec, and the Maya languages are in high demand due to the influx of refugees and immigrants who can’t speak English or Spanish. Tulane would be the best pick for this, but universities like UT Austin, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, Yale, etc. also offer various Mesoamerican languages.

@Marfa Public Radio

Since the late 1970s, Guatemalans been crossing the border into to the United States in large numbers – taking their indigenous languages with them. As Guatemalan immigration continues, paired with anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies, demand for translators of America’s ancient languages is on the rise…

Carmelina Cadena wanted to be an interpreter since she was a child. At five years old she left her home country of Guatemala…Her family, unlike many Guatemalans at the time, were able to understand some Spanish, but they mostly spoke the Mayan language Akateko. Cadena watched her mom struggle to understand court documents and proceedings as the immigration status of the family hung in the balance. She says the family could have received residency sooner if there had been an interpreter working with them.

Though it took decades, Cadena eventually did get her residency and citizenship. Her experience inspired her to found Maya Interpreters, an organization that hires speakers of 14 Mayan languages to do telephonic interpretations all over the United States, including West Texas.

Business has been good – too good. She’s struggling to meet demand for interpreters, which are hired by refugee resettlement programs, immigration courts and other organizations.

[cfsnowy]

An Ancient Studies major and Judaic Studies minor at UMBC might be worth a look.