Humanities Division
As Trump Orders ICE Raids Nationwide, Harvard Stays Quiet
As the Trump administration threatens deportations across the country, Harvard is standing behind its policy to direct federal officers seeking access to non-public spaces to the Harvard University Police Department or the Office of the General Counsel — without elaborating on what happens next.
Political Commentator E.J. Dionne Discusses Role of Religion in 2024 Election
Political commentator and Brookings Institute Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne ’73 joined the Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies for the Committee on the Study of Religions, Carleigh Beriont, for a conversation on religion and American politics Thursday night at the Barker Center.
Visual Arts Colloquium Hum 20 Will Become Department-Level HAA 10 in the Fall
Humanities 20, Harvard’s interdisciplinary art history colloquium, will no longer be offered under the Arts and Humanities division-wide “HUMAN” label and will instead be changed to HAA 10, a History of Arts and Architecture introductory course, starting this fall.
Ten Stories That Shaped 2024
At Harvard, 2024 began with an ending — the chaotic close of Claudine Gay’s short-lived presidency. It would not be a quiet year. Pro-Palestine student protesters staged an encampment in Harvard Yard. Congress expanded its investigation into campus antisemitism, issuing threats alongside blistering reports. Amid it all, Alan M. Garber ’76 quietly ascended from the interim presidency to a permanent post at Harvard’s helm. Here, The Crimson looks back at 10 stories that shaped the University, and Cambridge, in 2024.
‘Standing at the Intersection’: The Medical Humanities’ Struggle for Footing at Harvard
In the last decade, universities across the country have expanded their medical humanities programs. But at Harvard, professors and students point to a need for formalized curricula and greater cross-field faculty hiring.
Course-Specific AI Chatbots Piloted in 2 Expos 20 Courses
Two professors teaching Expository Writing 20, a required first-year class run by Harvard’s Writing Program, have piloted the limited use of artificial intelligence chatbots in the curriculum.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
