I sat for MA degree comprehensive examinations in Classical Ethiopic and in Aramaic. I also completed PhD comprehensives in Akkadian and in Biblical Hebrew. I passed my reading proficiency exams in French and German.
The program in Northwest Semitics/Hebrew Bible at CUA was part of the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures. I spent much of my time working with Aramaic texts in various dialects and in Hebrew Bible. I was also able to supplement my Akkadian study with a class in Neo-Babylonian legal texts at Johns Hopkins under the direction of the late Raymond Westbrook.
I completed all the requirements but dissertation for the PhD, but I left the department in 2008 after the death of Michael Patrick O’Connor and the departure of Doug Gropp left me with no dissertation advisor within the department.