Yismet

I agree with Aubstopper....it depends on what exactly you wish to do. If it is politics, Georgetown wins because of proximity, but I think the connections you could make at Harvard could be just as useful. Also, at Harvard, you can take classes at Tufts Fletcher School, which would be a huge benefit. My guess between the two is that Harvard would be a mix between the practical and theoretical (like the class they have on the greats books of Near Eastern thought), whereas Georgetown would be mainly practical. If you want to go on to a PhD is anything in the humanities/liberal arts I would chose Harvard. If you want to go into IR/politics/ a job right away, I think it is a toss-up. Does funding make any difference? Are you going to visitation days at either school? I think getting to know the departments would be the best way to decide.

So Byzantine archaeology is a little out of my area, but I can give you my ideas. Searching for programs might be futile - I think it would be better just to search for people. Byz. archaeology is not a big field, but find what books and articles you can, see who wrote them, and see what schools they are at/ their departments. Archaeologists sometimes like to "hide" in other programs like art history. If you can't find anybody, you may need to make a compromise, like going to grad school for art history, but choose a school/program that has strong ties to an anthropology program, or the other way around, etc... One particular place to look is University of Pennsylvania's Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World (AAMW) program. I am pretty sure they have someone who does Byzantine art/architecture, and they also have good archaeologists. You could also consider doing a Master's first, and doing it abroad. Not just England, but also look at Turkey and Greece. As far as languages go, it will be very hard to get into any Classics/ classical archaeology program without ANY Latin or Greek. Obviously, you are going to need both, but Greek would be a better start for you. I won't say it is impossible to get in without the languages, and please don't change your mind about what you want to study because of it. It will just be harder - though professors do realize that not every school offers Greek/Latin. One of my friends is applying to grad school for Byzantine art history and he has been told he also needs to learn Turkish, since most of the ruins are in Turkey and there are A LOT of publications in Turkish. If you can't get Greek or Latin at your school, can you take it through an online course through your school or at other universities nearby? Also consider studying abroad in countries like England or Turkey (for example, Bogazici University) where you can take classes directly related to Byzantine studies and the languages, which will look good to admission's committees. Taking initiative in situations like this is important and will show you really care. Also, some schools, such as the University of Pennsylvania, offer post- bacs, which are pretty much intensive year long programs in Greek and Latin to prepare students for grad school. I hope some of this has been helpful - Byzantine archaeology is not my area of study, though I do find it very interesting. Good luck!

I didn't apply to Chicago or Georgetown, but I did get an acceptance from Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies (I don't know if you applied to that or their NELC department). It came by mail a couple days ago....and it took a while to get here, so unless you live in Boston I wouldn't worry yet because it seems that notification mail in general takes awhile. Good luck!