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Humanities Division

University Hall
College

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.

Boylston Hall
FAS

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.​​​​​​​

Sean Kelly
FAS

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.

Humanities Graphic
FAS

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.

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Music

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.

University Hall
FAS

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.

Dean Hopi Hoekstra Interview
FAS

Hoekstra Likely to Pick Arts and Humanities, Science Deans In ‘Next Few Months’

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra hopes to select two new divisional deans — in Science and in Arts and Humanities — within “the next few months,” she said in a Wednesday interview.

Harvard Yard University Hall

Ten Stories That Shaped 2023

In 2023, Harvard had a tumultuous year. Claudine Gay’s first semester ended amid a leadership crisis as she came under fire for her response to tensions on a campus divided by the Israel-Hamas war and faced allegations of plagiarism. Harvard’s legacy and donor preferences in admissions also faced national scrutiny following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling striking down the University’s affirmative action policy. Across campus, scandal after scandal hit parts of the University. Here, The Crimson looks back at the 10 stories that shaped 2023 at Harvard.

Barker Center
Humanities Division

Michael Pollan Talks Future of Psychedelics Research at Harvard Mahindra Humanities Center

Author Michael K. Pollan, a Harvard lecturer in English and professor of the practice in non-fiction, spoke about the future of research into the societal and cultural aspects of psychedelics during a Mahindra Humanities Center talk on Wednesday.

Dean Robin E. Kelsey
FAS

Dean of Arts and Humanities Robin Kelsey To Step Down At End of Academic Year

Robin E. Kelsey, Harvard’s dean of Arts and Humanities, will step down from his post at the end of the 2023-24 academic year, according to a Monday afternoon email to divisional faculty from Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra obtained by The Crimson.

Barker Center
Humanities Division

Author Alma Guillermoprieto Talks Language and Cultural Identity at Harvard Writers Speak Conversation

Authors Alma Guillermoprieto and Valeria Luiselli discussed cultural identity, language, and portrayals of violence in literature and journalism at a Thursday speaker event hosted by the Harvard Mahindra Humanities Center.

Museum Closings
FAS

Harvard Offers Kurdish Language Course for First Time in University History

Harvard offered its first Kurdish Language course in the University’s history this fall after students from Kurdish-speaking backgrounds pushed for its creation.

Humanities Graphic
FAS

A Proposal to Merge Harvard’s Small Language Programs Has Fallen Flat. What’s Next for the Humanities?

An internal document and interviews with professors and Arts and Humanities Dean Robin E. Kelsey suggest new directions for Harvard’s humanities. But a proposal that would combine four language programs has faced resistance from some faculty.

Sever Hall 2
Books

Novelist Nadifa Mohamed Discusses Identity and Personal Narratives in Writers Speak Event

Somali novelist Nadifa Mohamed discussed her latest novel “The Fortune Men” at a Tuesday lecture in Sever Hall.

FAS Feature Graphic
FAS

Who the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Want as Harvard’s Most Powerful Dean

As Claudine Gay prepares to move from her station in University Hall to the president’s office across Harvard Yard, one of her most important tasks will be to select her own successor as the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. With the search now in motion, several FAS professors spoke with The Crimson about their hopes for the successor to Harvard’s most powerful dean.

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