Yesson, a visiting professor in the government department, previously served as a predoctoral fellow at the Olin Institute, part of Harvard's Center for International Affairs.

After teaching at Brown University for the past two and a half years, he returned to Cambridge to teach courses on foreign policy.

After years of teaching at MIT and the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), Wayne Cornelius, a visiting professor in the government department, decided to return to Harvard as a visiting professor this year.

"I began my academic career here in 1971," Cornelius says. "Now I'm back full circle."

Ethnic Studies

Cornelius, who is teaching courses on immigration and Mexican politics, comes to Harvard by way of a specially-created visiting professorship for ethnic studies.

According to Knowles, the ethnic studies committee, headed by Professor of Chinese Literature Leo O. Lee, awards four ethnic studies positions each year.

"The Dean set aside some special slots for visiting scholars to teach ethnic studies courses," says Werner Sollors, Cabot professor of English literature and professor of Afro-American studies. "Every year we invite numerous scholars to teach courses in various fields."

Because ethnic studies is not an academic department, the program has no tenured Faculty members.

Individual departments often propose individual academics for joint visiting appointments with ethnic studies.

Sollors is primarily responsible for the upcoming visit of Hector Calderon, a prominent Chicano scholar of literature who will arrive at Harvard next semester under the ethnic studies program.

According to Sollors, Calderon, who will teach in both the English and folklore and mythology departments, is "one of the leaders" of his field.

"I'm really excited and looking forward to having him here," Sollors says.

At Home at Harvard

Once professors decide to accept a visiting position, they face the challenge of finding housing in the relatively expensive suburbs of Boston.