Academics
Classes Address Collaboration Policies
Among crowded classrooms and stacks of syllabi, professors outlining their collaboration policies have become a common theme of opening lectures.
5 New Courses for the Undecided Shopper
Despite all its pluses and perks, shopping period does present Harvard students with one potential problem: buyer's remorse. While students filing into course book mainstays like Ec10 and LS1b pretty much know what to expect from the semester, nothing screams caveat emptor quite like the words "New Course" (and the telltale lack of a Q score) next to a class names. But new courses aren't all bad and often offer students a chance to snag a gem of a class before words gets out and the whole shebang is lotteried the following year. So, for those daring students who are eager to plunge into the great unknown (or who couldn't get into Maria Tatar's fairy tales class), here are five new courses that you might want to check out.
Alumnus Slams Harvard's Handling of the Cheating Scandal
Thomas G. Stemberg ’71, founder of the retail chain Staples and a prominent supporter of the Harvard mens’ basketball program, characterized the College’s handling of the Government 1310 cheating scandal as “Orwellian” in a personal letter addressed to University President Drew G. Faust.
Text of Stemberg's Letter Addressing the Cheating Scandal
Read the text of a personal letter obtained by The Crimson this week that was sent by prominent alumnus Thomas G. Stemberg ’71 to University President Drew G. Faust.
With Investigation Complete, Harvard Plans a Cheating Scandal Announcement
Harvard has delivered verdicts to all of the approximately 125 students ensnared in the Government 1310 cheating scandal and plans to make an announcement about the results of the investigation near the start of the spring semester, according to a Harvard spokesperson.
Flyby Presents: The Gen Ed Course Trailer Awards
In honor of the Academy, we at Flyby have created awards to recognize this semester's best course trailers. Check out these videos while you’re procrastinating packing those suitcases.
Talking Under the Trees
Andrew Richardson, an assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, and Donald H. Pfister, a systematic biology professor, created a course trailer to promote their class Science of Living Systems 25: "Trees, Forests, and Global Change."
Grades are up!
If you filled out the CUE for all your classes, you can find them at https://apps2.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/onlinesrec/.
For Creative Concentrators, A New Happily Ever After
Folklore and mythology recently joined English; literature; studies of women, gender, and sexuality; and visual and environmental studies in offering some concentrators the option of working on a creative project as a senior thesis.
See Next Semester's Pre-Term Planning Data
Flyby brings you all the numbers you want to see regarding pre-term planning. Open this Google doc to find out how many students registered for every single spring course available through the pre-term planning tool.
Students in Harvard/NEC Program Juggle Music and Academics
While many Harvard students juggle academics and extracurricular activities, a select number of Harvard undergraduates deal with the additional challenge of attending two colleges at once.
Pre-Term Planning Data Shows Increased Interest in CS
Pre-Term Planning data for Spring 2012 indicates an increased interest in computer science classes and suggests that a few courses with capped enrollments will be competitive.
Georgetown To Join EdX
Georgetown University is the latest institution to join edX, an online education venture started by Harvard and MIT, announced Georgetown President John J. Degioia yesterday.
Unreal Memories
Artist Hans Tutschku, the Fanny P. Mason Professor of Music and Director of the Harvard University Studio for Electroacoustic Composition, composed a new sound installation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Carpenter Center. The installation, Unreal Memories, brings voices from many different cultures together in a sound clip that is projected from the rooftop of the Carpenter Center.
Wellesley To Join EdX
EdX, an online educational platform launched by Harvard and MIT in May, announced today that Wellesley College will be the first liberal arts institution to partner with the virtual learning venture.
'Justice' Diversifies Discussion Globally
Students in classrooms across three continents met online Friday morning to discuss questions of ethics as part of Michael J. Sandel’s efforts to create a global learning environment.
InternationalLecture
As part of an innovative educational experiment titled The Global Classroom, Government Professor Michael Sandel conducts lecture before students of the University of Shangai, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and New Delhi through a live, video‐linked class discussion. Harvard students in his "Justice" course had the opportunity to join this international discussion.
Students To Distribute $100K in Grants Through New Philanthropy Course
While most Harvard College students focus on what they will take away from a course, students who enroll in Sociology 152: “Philanthropy and Public Problem-Solving” this spring will have the opportunity to give back—in the form of $100,000 in grants to Boston-area non-profits of their choice.
Yale Dean Discourages Take-Home Exams After Harvard Cheating Scandal
As a Harvard committee looks to examine the proper place of take-home exams in undergraduate courses in the wake of this fall’s massive cheating investigation, Yale administrators have discouraged their own faculty from administering take-home finals in response to the scandal at Harvard.
Deflated Princetonians Take Comfort in GPA Converter
It seems like someone in New Jersey is still disappointed they didn't get into Harvard. Fortunately, all those tigers who are licking their academic wounds from last semester can take comfort in a new website that purports to convert Princeton students' GPAs into slightly higher Harvard equivalents. Flyby can only assume that the site was generously created by a Princetonian hoping to fuel his classmates' fantasies about how much better their lives would have been had they gone to Harvard instead.