Shawn J. Bohen, the administrative director of the Hauser Center for Non-Profit Organizations, which is only a year old, says her center "hopes to connect the dots."

Although there has always been "an enormous amount of interest in the non-profit sector," students and faculty are often unaware of the opportunities that exist at and beyond Harvard, Bohen says.

"We want to connect people to create research and learning opportunities helping [students] to take full advantage of the opportunities the University offers while [they're] here," Bohen says.

All the centers encourage undergraduates to take advantage of the opportunities they offer. The Hauser Center has research assistant positions available to undergraduates on a regular basis, for example.

Kalb teaches a class in the basics: "PPP 100," on press, politics and public policy.

"I decided six or seven years ago to allow half a dozen seniors into the class if they demonstrated a serious interest," Kalb says. "If I had one hope over the next couple of years it would be for a course like PPP 100 to be offered in the Yard."

Although her funds and staff are too limited to advertise widely, Julie B. Wilson, director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, says that undergraduates are encouraged to take advantage of the brown bag lunches, which play host to fascinating people often invited by students themselves, who use the centers' resources for research.

"One of the nice things about Harvard is that a lot of people, even though they don't get paid, want to come," Wilson says. "People are inspired by the students."

The Institute of Politics (IOP), probably the most well-known to students at the College in its mission to offer KSG resources to undergraduates, is in fact a research center too.

Beyond Teaching

The KSG has no departments, rather courses and professors fall under different themes and areas of study. Thus, they turn to the research centers for support and academic community.

According to Kalb, the centers focus on "a theme of government rather than a department."

Faculty choose to affiliate with the centers, and can affiliate with more than one. Kalb says that this makes the Shorenstein Center unique among centers studying the media, which he adds is "a growth industry in the academic world."

"We have a faculty that teaches eight or nine courses per semester," Kalb says. "We hit all aspects of major public policy to examine how the press affected them."

But Luberoff says the Taubman Center does not focus on instruction.