About Us

PIES is the UCLA Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Indo-European Studies, leading to the degrees of MA and Ph.D.

The primary focus of the interdisciplinary Indo-European Studies program is the study of the ancient Indo-European languages and of their reconstructed ancestor, Proto-Indo-European, based on methods drawn from comparative-historical, theoretical, and computational linguistics. Goals of this study include the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language, elucidating its subsequent development into the historical Indo-European languages, and showing how data from the archaic Indo-European languages contribute to a theory of language. There is also attention to other aspects of the non-material culture of the speakers of Proto-Indo-European (such as social structure, religious beliefs, mythology, and poetics), and how these are reflected in the textual traditions of the ancient Indo-European languages.

The program sponsors an international conference held on campus each fall, largely organized by students in the program. The program maintains its own reading room, with reference materials and journal subscriptions covering all areas of Indo-European studies.