Humanities Division
Harvard Departments Brace for Teaching Fellow Shortage After Ph.D. Cuts
Harvard’s deep cuts to PhD admissions are on track to leave undergraduate courses short of teaching fellows within two years, a looming squeeze already pushing departments to prepare contingency plans.
Humanities Departments Are in Trouble, but ‘Applied Humanities’ Are in Demand, Harvard Panelists Say
The humanities are struggling at universities nationwide — but outside the ivory tower, fields from Silicon Valley to politics need them more than ever, four Harvard professors said at a talk hosted by the English department last week.
Federal Cuts Force Harvard Programs To Suspend Language Study Fellowships
When a judge ordered the Trump administration in September to restore Harvard’s federal funding, programs receiving grants through the Education Department’s International and Foreign Language Education initiative breathed a sigh of relief. But seven days later, the funds were terminated for good.
At Harvard Panel, Scholars Say Ancient DNA May ‘Challenge Assumptions’ of Ethnic Homogeneity in Medieval England
A German archaeologist discussed his team’s research on two cadavers buried in early medieval England — both of whom had recent West African ancestry and appeared to be socially integrated with their communities — at a Harvard panel on Thursday.
Michael Sandel Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture
Sandel won $1 million from the Berggruen Institute and was named their 2025 laureate for Philosophy & Culture on Tuesday.
Arts and Humanities Division Launches Public Culture Project to Promote the Humanities in Public Life
The Project will involve a series of public conversations between speakers from fields such as government, business, and technology to engage in questions about education and work, the role of artificial intelligence in human lives, and the role of God in the U.S., among others.
Beyond the Lab: Trump’s Funding Cuts Hit Humanities Research at Harvard
A database with pigment analysis of more than 300 Asian paintings. The authoritative dictionary of the Latin language, curated since the 1890s and spanning 1,200 years of inscriptions. A library of translated Ukrainian literature, launched just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Norton Lectures Celebrate 100-Year Anniversary
The Office of the Dean of Arts and Humanities, the Mahindra Humanities Center, and Harvard University Press hosted a discussion commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Norton Lectures on Thursday.
Harvard Arts and Humanities Division Implements $1.95 Million Cut Amid University’s Budget Crunch
Harvard’s Arts and Humanities division instructed department heads to collectively reduce their budgets for non-personnel spending by roughly $1.95 million as divisions across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences implement cost-cutting plans.
Arts and Humanities Dean Focuses on Small Changes as Hiring Freeze Stalls Larger-Scale Planning
At the end of his first year as Harvard’s Arts and Humanities dean, Philosophy professor Sean D. Kelly has been thinking big about how to make the humanities work for career-driven undergrads — and taking small steps to support faculty in the division. But some bigger changes have been put on hold as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences tightens its budget following the Trump administration’s moves to axe federal funding.
Arts and Humanities Division Pushes Forward With New Intro Course Initiative
One of Sean D. Kelly’s first promises as Harvard’s new Dean of Arts and Humanities was that he would facilitate the creation of new introductory courses for the division, which he felt lacked its Computer Science 50 or Economics 10. One year later, they’re here.
FAS Dean Asks Center Directors To Show Compliance With Viewpoint Diversity Guidance
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra told directors of FAS centers they would be required to meet with their divisional deans to explain how their programs are complying with recent guidance on intellectual diversity in a Tuesday email.
Harvard To Offer New Freshman Course on ’Human Sciences’
Harvard will offer a new freshman intro course to the Arts and Humanities, Human Sciences 15, next spring as part of an ongoing push to rethink its humanities curriculum.
As Trump Orders ICE Raids Nationwide, Harvard Stays Quiet
As the Trump administration threatens deportations across the country, Harvard is standing behind its policy to direct federal officers seeking access to non-public spaces to the Harvard University Police Department or the Office of the General Counsel — without elaborating on what happens next.
Political Commentator E.J. Dionne Discusses Role of Religion in 2024 Election
Political commentator and Brookings Institute Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne ’73 joined the Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies for the Committee on the Study of Religions, Carleigh Beriont, for a conversation on religion and American politics Thursday night at the Barker Center.
Visual Arts Colloquium Hum 20 Will Become Department-Level HAA 10 in the Fall
Humanities 20, Harvard’s interdisciplinary art history colloquium, will no longer be offered under the Arts and Humanities division-wide “HUMAN” label and will instead be changed to HAA 10, a History of Arts and Architecture introductory course, starting this fall.
Ten Stories That Shaped 2024
At Harvard, 2024 began with an ending — the chaotic close of Claudine Gay’s short-lived presidency. It would not be a quiet year. Pro-Palestine student protesters staged an encampment in Harvard Yard. Congress expanded its investigation into campus antisemitism, issuing threats alongside blistering reports. Amid it all, Alan M. Garber ’76 quietly ascended from the interim presidency to a permanent post at Harvard’s helm. Here, The Crimson looks back at 10 stories that shaped the University, and Cambridge, in 2024.
‘Standing at the Intersection’: The Medical Humanities’ Struggle for Footing at Harvard
In the last decade, universities across the country have expanded their medical humanities programs. But at Harvard, professors and students point to a need for formalized curricula and greater cross-field faculty hiring.
Course-Specific AI Chatbots Piloted in 2 Expos 20 Courses
Two professors teaching Expository Writing 20, a required first-year class run by Harvard’s Writing Program, have piloted the limited use of artificial intelligence chatbots in the curriculum.
Students, Faculty Call for Urban Studies Secondary Field at Harvard
A group of undergraduates and faculty are calling on Harvard to establish a secondary field in urban studies, citing widespread interest in the field among students.
A Report Suggested Big Changes to the Arts & Humanities. The Division’s New Dean Is Taking It Slow.
Harvard’s Arts and Humanities division will centralize its administrative services and develop new introductory courses, Sean D. Kelly announced on Tuesday in his email as the division’s new dean.
Philosophy Professor Sean Kelly To Serve as Next Arts and Humanities Dean
Philosophy professor Sean D. Kelly will serve as the next Arts and Humanities dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra announced Wednesday morning.
As Many Mourn the ‘Death of the Humanities,’ Harvard Profs. Say It’s Not That Simple
To many, the humanities appear incongruent with a university increasingly focused on preparation for professional life, instead existing primarily for their own sake. But many professors in the Arts & Humanities division say that’s exactly how it should be.
Harvard Says It Wants to Boost Interdisciplinary Research. Its Professors Have Questions.
“Interdisciplinarity” has become something of a buzzword among Harvard professors. But in interviews with The Crimson, seven professors from the Arts and Humanities division said that the term, as it is popularly used, may raise more questions than it does answers.
Arts and Humanities Faculty Say Next Dean Must Combat Declining Interest in the Division
With the search for the next Arts and Humanities dean underway, faculty said they want to be included in conversations about any divisional restructuring that takes place under the next dean.