Coles was actually at Brown last night talking to medical students about "performing community-based service through the center," said Barbara K. Fuller, Brown's curriculum coordinator.

Fuller said she was not sure if Coles had been offered a job as a full-time faculty member.

Duke's dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, Roy Weintraub, did not return a call seeking comment.

But Coles has ties to Duke. He was a visiting professor of public policy at the North Carolina school in 1973, and he is a co-founder and current member of the Board of Directors of Duke's Center for Documentary Studies.

Popular Teacher

If Coles leaves, students may be deprived of listening to his lectures in Gen Ed 105, which has an annual enrollment of about 500.

A recent CUE Guide reported that students have described Coles in "glowing terms." The guide also said that undergraduates who took the class suggested Gen Ed 105 should be a requirement for all Harvard students, "as it provides an incredibly fulfilling educational and personal experience."

Coles said that Gen Ed 105 is an important part of his life, and he would like to continue teaching it.

Coles also teaches a "very popular elective course" at Harvard Medical School on literature and medicine, according to S. James Adelstein, executive dean for academic programs there. "That's been a real contribution and we would miss that," Adelstein said yesterday.

In addition to offering courses in the Medical School and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Coles has led classes at the Business School, Law School, Graduate School of Education and Harvard Extension School.

Sarah J. Schaffer and Sarah E. Scrogin contributed to the reporting of this story.