With a long-standing research partnership at the University and a family that boasts five Harvard degrees, visiting professor Kay Schlozman does not have a hard time navigating the Harvard landscape.

Schlozman has served as a visiting professor six times since 1987, filling student demand for a variety of specific courses in both the Government and Women, Gender, and Sexuality departments. This fall, Schlozman has returned to teach a new course for undergraduates, Government 1545: “Gender and Politics.”

But Schlozman’s connection with the University goes beyond her academic work. Her two children—Daniel A. Schlozman ’03 and Julia E. Schlozman ’09—hold five degrees in total from the University. After attending the College, Daniel went on to earn a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science, and Julia graduated from Harvard Law School this past spring.

Despite her substantial academic and personal investment in Harvard, Schlozman’s allegiance remains with Boston College, where she serves as the assistant chair of the political science department and where she will return following her visiting professorship.

In her dual roles, Schlozman has spent this fall trekking back and forth between the two schools, filling holes in Harvard’s academic curriculum while fulfilling her roles as a mentor and administrator at Boston College.

FILLING A NEED

As Harvard continues to tighten its budgetary belt, visiting professors such as Schlozman have become a mainstay on campus, filling departmental needs without necessitating additional faculty. This year, 41 visiting professors were welcomed to campus, according to FAS spokesperson Jeff Neal.

“Visiting faculty help ensure that we can offer a diverse range of classes and perspectives to both undergraduate and graduate students,” Neal wrote in an email to The Crimson.

Harvard reached out to Schlozman last spring after a student movement called for a course on gender and politics—an area which some students claimed was missing from the government department’s curriculum.

“It’s an issue that needs to be addressed—it’s an important course to have,” said Valentina I. Perez ’15, who is currently taking the class.

Although Schlozman’s research has focused more on participatory inequalities of American politics, her broad repertoire of teaching experience and knowledge of Harvard made her a perfect fit.

“There is nobody really on the [Harvard] faculty who can [teach this class],” said Schlozman, who has taught the same class at Boston College.

While the student movement cited a significant demand for the class, only 14 students—all of whom are female—enrolled in Government 1545 this fall. As a result, Schlozman adapted the class from a lecture format to a more discussion-oriented experience.

Schlozman said that the absence of men in her course is not particularly problematic. “There are clearly women who find it a home for intellectual questions that are not getting answered elsewhere,” she said.

Perez echoed Schlozman’s sentiment, adding that Harvard still has room to grow in terms of exploring the relationship between gender and politics. To her, Schlozman’s class is a step in the right direction.