Syriac at a Non-Accredited College

[newenglandshawn]

I have the opportunity to either audit or take for credit a course in Syriac at a tiny, non-accredited evangelical college/seminary. It will be pretty cheap to take the course (probably leaning toward auditing it) and it fits into my schedule. Is it even worth auditing a course in Syriac from such a program in anticipation of applying to doctoral programs in OT in another year? It is really the only opportunity in my small and remote community to take any further language courses between now and when I hope to apply.

[sacklunch]

How much time can you devote to the course while auditing? Have you had any Aramaic before? It may be beneficial, i think, especially if you have a background in Aramaic, since the biggest (initial) hurdle is learning to read the language and then see all the similarities with earlier forms of the language (I'm speaking generally, here). I might also ask, why do you want to learn Syriac? I know nothing about your interests in HB/OT! Though, from my experience, and having taken Syriac, it is very useful as another ancient version/witness. I assume you have interest in the Peshitta?

 

cheers

[newenglandshawn]

I can probably devote a fair amount of time to it, I'm hoping!

 

I have not taken any courses in Aramaic - though I really wish I could. There is a chance that this college will offer Aramaic next fall.

 

I have no great interest in Syriac or the Peshitta; I just figured it would be advantageous to familiarize myself with as many languages as possible, both for my application as well as when I do get into a program (should I have to expose myself to the Peshitta at some point).

[AbrasaxEos]

With languages, it is helpful to have some exposure to variety, but only insofar as they will actually be applicable to your research.  It would seem that if your interest lies in HB, a different language would be more worthwhile to spend your time on. I would almost say that the time you would spend on Syriac would be better spent in a disciplined way teaching yourself a different language that is more applicable to your field. You might even work on learning to read unpointed Hebrew texts (if you don't already), which I think would support a HB application more than learning a dialect of Middle Aramaic. Why expend the time and effort necessary learning a new language if the only use you can think for it is that you *might* have to look at the Peshitta at some point?  The likelihood of your maintaining a semester's worth of Syriac to the degree that you would need to use it profitably would also be pretty low.

[newenglandshawn]

Thanks for your perspective, AbrasaxEos. To be honest, the main motivation is to bolster my application (especially with it being as weak as it is). This is the loudest feedback I've gotten from people: I need wider exposure to the languages. Ergo, my thinking!

[sacklunch]

I still think the class may be beneficial for someone in OT, even if you don't have an interest in studying the Peshitta per se. There is a lot of debate, past and present, but I think the Peshitta (and other Syriac compositions) is another important witness for understanding the textual development of the HB. Again, this assumes you have some interest in certain areas (i.e. text criticism). 

[AbrasaxEos]

Probably the case, but my guess would be that an adcom would look at a non-accredited language course (especially if audited) in a similar manner to self-taught languages.  This being the case, I think excepting the OPs interest in HB text criticism (looking at his other posts, I don't think that he is) that the time devoted to this course would be better spent working on a language more nearly related to his interests.