In an unconventional twist on final exams, students in this semester’s English 156, “Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture” will find themselves conveying their academic insights not only through their word processors, but also face-to-face with teaching staff in an oral final exam.

In the midst of last year’s financial crisis, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith assembled six “working groups” to establish top Faculty priorities.

After years dedicated to shedding light on the work of the late Harvard Egyptology Professor George A. Reisner, Class of 1889, Peter D. Manuelian ’81 will become the first egyptology professor at Harvard since his predecessor’s death 68 years ago.

The hiring of a new Chinese Language Program director for the upcoming academic year remains uncertain for the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, according to Department Chair Wilt Idema.

Diana Sorensen, the divisional dean for the arts and humanities in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, will leave Harvard at the end of the academic year to take a year-long sabbatical.

The English department will welcome two new professors from Columbia University and grant tenure to one of its current associate professors.

Harvard Medieval Art History Professor Jeffrey F. Hamburger embarked on a crusade last week to save a rare professorship at King’s College London from being eliminated due to budget cuts.

Stephen L. Burt, an associate professor of English, was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism on Saturday.

History Professor Nancy F. Cott testified on Tuesday in a federal case against California's Proposition 8—which currently restricts same-sex marriage within state borders—to provide an overview of the various marriage restrictions in American history.