harvard english phd students

Undergraduate

Humans use stories to cope and thrive, from prehistoric cave paintings to distilling experience in novels, screenplays, and hip hop rhymes. By studying English literature, students learn how to analyze and appreciate the language of the past and to contribute to the narrative of the future. Concentrators will develop expertise in interpreting others’ rhetoric and learn to communicate meaningfully.

The Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree is designed for industry professionals with years of work experience who wish to complete their degrees part time, both on campus and online, without disruption to their employment. Our typical student is over 30, has previously completed one or two years of college, and works full time.

The Graduate Program in English aims to provide Ph.D. candidates with a broad knowledge of the field of English, including critical and cultural theory. Additional important skills include facility with the tools of scholarship—ancient and modern foreign languages, bibliographic procedures, and textual and editorial methods. The program also emphasizes the ability to write well, to do solid and innovative scholarly and critical work in a specialized field or fields, to teach effectively, and to make articulate presentations at conferences, seminars, and symposia.

Students enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts program in English will deepen their understanding of fiction, poetry, and drama while learning to analyze and interpret literary texts. Students will hone their research and writing skills, and become a stronger reader and critical thinker.

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Graduate Student Administrative Resources

English Graduate Program Resources & Information (login required) An internal website with an exhaustive listing of all the forms you will need as an English graduate student; it also contains Generals Lists, example Fields Lists, example prospectuses, example language exams,  and teaching , professional and financial resources .  Please contact the Department of English Graduate Program Assstant if you are a graduate student or faculty member and unable to access the site.

GSAS’s Handbook for Students

GSAS Graduate Student Council

Dissertation Plans & Pandemic  

Generals Exams

Generals Exam Website

Language Exams

Library resources.

Odile Harter ( [email protected] ) is the library liaison to the English Department. She is available to answer questions and also as a partner in your research. Feel free to keep her posted on whatever it is you’re working on, no matter how esoteric or inchoate.

Harvard Library Resources for English Graduate Students A guide to graduate library research

Child Memorial Library The Department of English’s Research Library

Woodberry Poetry Room in Lamont Library

Book History @ Harvard

• Guidelines for Admission
• Program Description
• Teaching Fellows
• Fellowships
• Graduate Prizes
• English PhD Alumni Network & Placement Information

• Harvard Library
• Research Guides
• Faculty of Arts & Sciences Libraries

Literature: A Research Guide for Graduate Students

• Get Started
• Find a Database
• Research Dos & Don'ts

Welcome! This guide is maintained by Odile Harter , the library liaison to the departments of Comparative Literature and English. Here you'll find:

Get Started - a to-do list for new graduate students

Find a Database - how to locate the best search engines for your field or project

Research Dos & Don'ts - tips to help you be productive and efficient

All of which supplement Literary Research in Harvard Libraries , where you will find my favorite tools and strategies to:

• Get Organized - access, organize, and cite
• Find Background - from simple encyclopedia entries to detailed guides and histories
• Find Scholarship and Criticism - top sources and search strategies
• Literary Theory - deceptively tricky to search for!
• Foreign Language Literatures - if you're working with languages other than English

Odile Harter

Research & Pedagogy Librarian

Email Odile

• Next: Get Started >>

Except where otherwise noted, this work is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , which allows anyone to share and adapt our material as long as proper attribution is given. For details and exceptions, see the Harvard Library Copyright Policy ©2021 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College.

In the Department of English , students think about, study and write about the artful ways in which people can and do use words, from thousand-year-old epics about fighting monsters to the intimate poems and the public addresses of our own time. The department is also the academic home at Harvard for creative writers and creative writing. Undergraduates may pursue a Concentration and Secondary Field.

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Daniel Donoghue Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies: Sarah Dimick   Undergraduate Program Administrator: Lauren Bimmler Undergraduate Program Assistant: Emily Miller  

Gateway Courses

Spring 2024

English 187nd. Indigenous Literatures of the Other-than-Human Christopher Pexa

“Indians are an invention,” declares an unnamed hunter in Gerald Vizenor’s (White Earth Ojibwe) 1978 novel, Bearheart. The hunter’s point, as Vizenor has explained in interviews and elsewhere, is not that Indigenous peoples don’t exist, but that the term “Indian” is a colonial fiction or shorthand that captures, essentializes, and thus erases a vast diversity of Indigenous lives and peoples. This course begins from the contention that other categories, and maybe most consequentially that of “nature,” have not only historically borne little resemblance to the lived lives of Indigenous people but have been used as important tools for capture and colonization. We will begin with European writings on the “noble savage” who lives harmoniously in a state of Nature, then move to Indigenous writers and thinkers whose work refuses this invention, along with its corollary category of the supernatural. We will spend most of our time reading 20th- and 21st- century Indigenous literary depictions of other-than-human beings and Indigenous relationships with those beings, highlighting how forms of kinship with them are integral to Indigenous ways of understanding difference, to acting like a good relative, and to Indigenous practices of peoplehood. Readings may include works by Billy-Ray Belcourt, Ella Deloria, Louise Erdrich, Stephen Graham Jones, Leslie Marmon Silko, Leanne Simpson, Kim TallBear, and Gerald Vizenor, among others.

English 115b Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales Anna Wilson 

What makes stories so pleasurable and revealing but also so enraging and dangerous? How are we to think about the strong emotions they evoke and learn to resist as well as appreciate their power? This course revisits Geoffrey Chaucer's classic fourteenth-century poem, The Canterbury Tales: the deepest and most caustically entertaining analysis of storytelling ever written. The Canterbury Tales consists of a series of tales told by members of a pilgrimage on their way from London to Canterbury, representatives of the internally divided social world of Chaucer’s England. Some are serious, others funny, obscene, or offensive; some are religious, others not at all; some deal with issues local to England, others range across the Europe and the rest of the known world; many are told against other pilgrims. Written in a long-ago past, the poem jumps off the page, in turns unrecognisably weird and startlingly modern. We read the poem in the language in which it was written, Middle English, easy and fun to learn with early help: no previous experience with the language, or with the medieval era, is necessary. We will also explore the poem's long-ranging impact on English literature, including several contemporary reimaginings. Classes include a short lecture on a tale, and class discussion, which continues in weekly sections. Course projects include an essay, a collaborative report on one tale, and a creative option. Students of all years and from all concentrations and programs are welcome. If you are a graduate student interested in taking this class, please contact Prof. Wilson to indicate interest before term begins; there may be an additional graduate section if there is sufficient demand. 

This course satisfies the “Pre-1700 Guided Elective" requirement for English concentrators and Secondary Field students.

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Undergraduate

Concentration Requirements

Declare English

Creative Writing

Welcome from the director of undergraduate studies.

As an English concentrator you will sharpen your skills as a critical reader, deepen your capacity for empathy, and plunge into the complex moral choices that literature allows us vicariously to explore. Our discussions will enhance the pleasure that comes from immersing yourself in the beauty of a well-fashioned work of verbal art. You have the opportunity to nurture your own creative writing. Together these skills prepare you for any walk of life, no matter what you pursue after graduation. We’re proud of our alums, whether they go on to medical school, public service, secondary-school education, scriptwriting, or any of dozens of career paths.

As you complete the departmental requirements, let me urge you to use electives to explore unfamiliar topics, authors, and historical periods. Don’t be content with what you already know. Your concentration advising sessions offer excellent occasions to brainstorm about different avenues opened up by our curriculum.

The people of the English department invite you to find your college home, where you read and discuss and create with us.We are here for you if you want to do a deep dive with your favorite author; but we also hope to introduce you to new authors and forms of expression. And you don’t have to apply to be an English concentrator to take our classes. Please come meet our teachers, read and write with us, and discover what you like.

- Professor Daniel Donoghue

Additional Links

Literary Careers

Alumni Features and Careers

Undergraduate Advising

Prizes and Fellowships

Secondary Field

Research, Resources, and Forms

Undergraduate calendar, 8dcfba5db2e31dfda89a0c26e49490ef, a student's perspective.

Program Administration

Lauren Bimmler

Lauren oversees the administration of the undergraduate concentration, and is a resource to concentrators and prospective concentrators on matters of...

Daniel Donoghue

Education: B.A., University of Dallas (1978) M.Phil., University College Dublin (1981) Ph.D., Yale (1986)

Interests: Old English; Middle...

Odile Harter

Education: B.F.A., NYU Tisch School of the Arts M.F.A., Brown University

Sam Marks, playwright: World Premieres include THE...

Emily Miller

Anna Wilson

Education: B.A., Cambridge University (2007) Ph.D., University of Toronto (2015)

Interests: Medieval English literature and literary culture...

Harvard University PhD in English

How much does a doctorate in english language from harvard cost, harvard graduate tuition and fees.

Does Harvard Offer an Online PhD in English Language?

Harvard doctorate student diversity for english language, male-to-female ratio.

About 62.5% of the students who received their PhD in English language in 2019-2020 were women. This is higher than the nationwide number of 59.5%.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

Racial-ethnic minority graduates* made up 25.0% of the English language doctor’s degrees at Harvard in 2019-2020. This is higher than the nationwide number of 17%.

Popular Reports

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Funding & Scholarship: Graduate Programs

Financial support for ph.d. students, all students admitted into our ph.d. program receive full financial support., this support includes tuition, fees, $1,004 in transportation and dental subsidies (as of ay24-25), and a cost-of-living stipend ($3655 per month in ay23-24 and $4083 per month before taxes in ay24-25)..

Support is independent of need provided a student remains in good academic standing and is making satisfactory progress towards his/her Ph.D. degree. Students are expected to complete their Ph.D. requirements in four to six years. Financial support takes several forms: fellowships, teaching fellowships, and research assistantships. Ordinarily, first-year Ph.D. students are supported with full fellowships so that they can devote their time to coursework.

For the classes entering in Fall 2024 and beyond : SEAS PhD students are expected to complete two sections of teaching in SEAS in their second year or spread across their second and third years. Both sections may be completed concurrently in a single course. Their research assistantship will be adjusted accordingly during the semester(s) in which they are teaching fellow (TF). The academic requirement for the PhD degree is one section of teaching in SEAS. The student and their research advisor may arrange to replace the second section of teaching with a research assistantship. Beyond the first year, when students are in a better position to teach and assist in research, support is ordinarily provided through research assistantships, or a combination of a teaching fellowship and a research assistantship. For more detailed information, please visit the following pages: GSAS Tuition and Fees  G SAS Financial Support for PhD Students

External financial support for Ph.D. students

Applicants and current students are encouraged and expected to apply for all non-Harvard scholarships for which they are eligible, especially those offered by the  National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program  and  National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) . 

Each year, many SEAS students secure fellowships from external agencies.  Should an incoming student be awarded and accept any fellowship external to Harvard, it is the expectation that the student will utilize these funds in the first year of study in place of Harvard funding.   In advanced (G2+) years in the graduate program, students with external fellowships are advised to have a discussion with their financial aid officers from Harvard Griffin GSAS and SEAS about how to best utilize the remaining years of funding based on their activities and academic requirements.

To ensure equitable treatment of all students, the coordination of external award benefits with a student’s existing funding package is determined by the Harvard Griffin GSAS financial aid officer in consultation with SEAS.

Currently, PhD students with external support are eligible for a SEAS-sponsored academic incentive.  PhD students who bring in open, competitive external fellowships that are equal to 50% or more of total their support (tuition/fees + stipend) will receive a supplemental award of $3,000 in the first year of the external fellowship.  PhD students who bring in open external competitive external fellowships that are not 50% or more of their total support and are at least $10,000 (tuition/fees + stipend or salary) will receive a supplemental award of $1,000.  The full $3,000 bonus may also be awarded in certain cases of multi-year fellowships depending on the total amount of support provided.This policy is subject to review and change.

Financial support for terminal masters students (M.E. & S.M.)

While financial aid is not available for master’s students in our M.E. and S.M. programs, there are a variety of funding opportunities available. Prospective students are encouraged to apply for independent grants and fellowships to fund their studies.  Information about tuition and fees can be found here . Students in our Computational Science & Engineering or Data Science programs-should visit this page and also may contact the  GSAS Financial Aid Office  to learn more.

Students in the  MS/MBA:Engineering Sciences program  are eligible to apply for need-based  HBS Fellowships  and student loans in both years of the program.

FALL COURSE REGISTRATION  is open through August 29. Explore courses today.

English Degree Requirements

The Master of Liberal Arts, English degree program is offered online with 1 course required on campus at Harvard University. Weekend options are available for the on-campus requirement.

Getting Started

Explore admissions & degree requirements.

• Course curriculum and on-campus experience
• Admissions: eligibility and earning your way in
• Completing your degree

Begin Your Admissions Path This Fall

Enroll in your first admission course. Registration is open July 22–August 29.

Learn how to register →

Required Course Curriculum

Online core and elective courses

On-campus Engaging in Scholarly Conversation course

Capstone or thesis

12 Graduate Courses (48 credits)

The degree is highly customizable. As part of the program curriculum, you choose either a capstone or thesis track as well as the English and elective courses that meet your learning goals.

The primarily synchronous online format ensures real-time engagement with faculty and peers.

Required Courses View More

• HUMA 100 Introduction to Graduate Studies in English and Religion
• 4 English courses
• 1 Engaging in Scholarly Conversation ( see on-campus experience )
• 1 English seminar
• EXPO 42a Writing in the Humanities is an elective option.

Find Courses → 

Tip: Seminars offer small-class discussions as well as ample opportunities to connect with faculty and peers while engaging in research. We encourage you to complete multiple seminars.

Thesis Track View More

The thesis is a 9-month independent research project where you work one-on-one in a tutorial setting with a thesis director.

The track includes additional courses:

• HUMA E-497 Crafting the Thesis Proposal in Dramatic Arts, English, and Religion Tutorial
• ENGL 499AB ALM Thesis in English (8 credits)

Recent Thesis Topics:

• Sacred Nature: Metaphysics of Place in William Blake, Emily Dickinson and Seamus Heaney
• Poetry and Prophecy: The Question of Salvation in Abolitionist Poetry
• Integrated Casting in Iqbal Khan’s Othello and Keith Hamilton Cobb’s American Moor
• Sounding Religion: Voice and the Power of Music in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves

Capstone Track View More

This track focuses on a capstone project and includes the following additional courses:

• An English seminar
• Precapstone: The Novel and its Contexts
• Capstone: The Novel and its Contexts

Capstone experience. In the precapstone you read novels from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that both reflected and shaped the historical moment of their creation. While doing so, you’ll think about how these works raise pressing social, economic, and political questions. All of this is in preparation for your own literary investigation that you execute in the capstone.

Capstone sequencing . You enroll in the precapstone and capstone courses in back-to-back semesters (fall/spring) and in your final academic year. The capstone must be taken alone as your sole remaining degree requirement. Capstone topics are subject to change annually.

Recent Capstone Topics:

• Consumption, Class, and Achieving Distinction in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited
• John Steinbeck’s East of Eden: Trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Behaviors, and Dysfunctional Families
• She Who Wrestles with God: Interior Expression in Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter

Optional Graduate Certificate View More

You can choose to concentrate your degree to earn an American Literature and Culture Graduate Certificate along the way.

Harvard Instructor Requirement View More

For either the capstone or thesis track, 8 of your courses (32 credits) need to be taught by instructors with the Harvard-instructor designation. The thesis course is taught by a Harvard instructor.

On-Campus Experience

Choose between the accelerated or standard on-campus experience.

Learn and network in-person with your classmates.

Nearly all courses can be taken online, but the degree requires an in-person experience here at Harvard University where you enroll in Engaging in Scholarly Conversation (ESC).

Join your fellow degree candidates for this interactive course that highlights the importance of true graduate-level analysis by training you in the skills of critically engaging the scholarly literature in your field of study.

Choose between two on-campus experience options:

• Accelerated on-campus option: ESC is offered in 2 two-credit active learning weekends. We strongly advise you complete the two weekends in the same academic year with same instructor (part one in fall and part two in spring).
• Standard on-campus option: ESC is offered in a 3-week Harvard Summer School (HSS) session. This option is ideal for those who want a more traditional on-campus experience. HSS offers, for an additional fee, housing, meal plans, and a prolonged on-campus experience here at Harvard University. Learn more about campus life at Harvard .

You register for ESC after completing the proseminar with a grade of B or higher and prior to either the Crafting the Thesis Proposal tutorial or the precapstone to support your final research project. Ordinarily, students wait until they are officially admitted before enrolling in this requirement, as it does not count as one of the three, 4-credit courses required for admission.

You have two attempts to earn the required grade of B- or higher in ESC. A withdrawal grade (WD) counts as an attempt.

Whether working on a paper at one of the libraries or shopping at the Harvard Coop, I always felt like I belonged.

On attending Engaging in Scholarly Conversation in the active learning weekend format.

International Students Who Need a Student Visa View More

To meet the on-campus requirement, you choose the Standard on-campus option and study with us in the summer. You can easily request an I-20 for the F-1 student visa for Harvard Summer School’s 3-week session. For more details, see International Student Study Options for important visa information.

In-Person Co-Curricular Activities View More

Come to Cambridge for Convocation (fall) to celebrate your hard-earned admission, Harvard career fairs offered throughout the year, HES alumni networking events (here at Harvard and around the world), and, of course, Harvard University Commencement (May).

Confirm your initial eligibility with a 4-year bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent.

Take three courses in our unique “earn your way in” admissions process that count toward your degree.

In the semester of your third course, submit the official application for admission to the program.

Below are our initial eligibility requirements and an overview of our unique admissions process to help get you started. Be sure to visit Degree Program Admissions for full details.

Initial Eligibility View More

• Prior to enrolling in any degree-applicable courses, you must possess a 4-year regionally accredited US bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent. Foreign bachelor’s degrees must be evaluated for equivalency.
• If English is your second language, you’ll need to prove English proficiency before registering for a course. We have multiple proficiency options .

Earning Your Way In — Courses Required for Admission View More

To begin the admission process, you simply register — no application required — for the following three, four-credit, graduate-level degree courses (available online).

These prerequisite courses count toward your degree once you’re admitted ; they are not additional courses. They are investments in your studies and help ensure success in the program.

• Before registering, you’ll need to pass our online test of critical reading and writing skills or earn a B or higher in EXPO 42a Writing in the Humanities.
• You have 2 attempts to earn the minimum grade of B in the proseminar (a withdrawal grade counts as an attempt). The proseminar cannot be more than 2 years old at the time of application.
• One English course
• One English course or elective (e.g., EXPO 42a)

While the three courses don’t need to be taken in a particular order or in the same semester, we recommend that you start with the proseminar (or prerequisite, EXPO 42a). All three courses must be completed with a grade of B or higher, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0.

Applying to the Degree Program View More

During the semester of your third degree course, submit the official application to the program.

Don’t delay! You must prioritize the three degree courses for admission and apply before completing subsequent courses. By doing so, you’ll:

• Avoid the loss of credit due to expired course work or changes to admission and degree requirements.
• Ensure your enrollment in critical and timely degree-candidate-only courses.
• Avoid the delayed application fee.
• Gain access to exclusive benefits.

Eligible students who submit a complete and timely application will have nine more courses after admission to earn the degree. Applicants can register for courses in the upcoming semester before they receive their grades and while they await their admission decision.

Prospective ALM students can expect acceptance into the program by meeting all the eligibility and academic requirements detailed on this page, submitting a complete application, and having no academic standing or conduct concerns .

The Office of Predegree Advising & Admissions makes all final determinations about program eligibility.

Search and Register for Courses

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) offers degree courses all year round to accelerate degree completion.

• You can study in fall, January, and spring terms through Harvard Extension School (HES) and during the summer through Harvard Summer School (HSS).
• You can enroll full or part time. After qualifying for admission, many of our degree candidates study part time, taking 2 courses per semester (fall/spring) and 1 in the January and summer sessions.
• Most fall and spring courses meet once a week for two hours, while January and summer courses meet more frequently in a condensed format.

Completing Your Degree

Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Complete your courses in five years.

Earn your Harvard degree and enjoy Harvard Alumni Association benefits upon graduation.

Required GPA, Withdrawal Grades, and Repeat Courses View More

GPA. You need to earn a B or higher in each of the three degree courses required for admission and a B– or higher in each of the subsequent courses. In addition, your cumulative GPA cannot dip below 3.0.

Withdrawal Grades. You are allowed to receive two withdrawal (WD) grades without them affecting your GPA. Any additional WD grades count as zero in your cumulative GPA. Please note that a WD grade from a 2-credit course will count as one of your two allowed WD grades. See Academic Standing .

Repeat Courses. We advise you to review the ALM program’s strict policies about repeating courses . Generally speaking, you may not repeat a course to improve your GPA or to fulfill a degree requirement (if the minimum grade was not initially achieved). Nor can you repeat a course for graduate credit that you’ve previously completed at Harvard Extension School or Harvard Summer School at the undergraduate level.

Courses Expire: Finish Your Coursework in Under Five Years View More

Courses over five years old at the point of admission will not count toward the degree. As stated above, the proseminar cannot be more than two years old at the time of application.

Further, you have five years to complete your degree requirements. The five-year timeline begins at the end of the term in which you complete any three degree-applicable courses, regardless of whether or not you have been admitted to a degree program.

Potential degree candidates must plan accordingly and submit their applications to comply with the five-year course expiration policy or they risk losing degree credit for completed course work. Additionally, admission eligibility will be jeopardized if, at the point of application to the program, the five-year degree completion policy cannot be satisfied (i.e., too many courses to complete in the time remaining).

Graduate with Your Harvard Degree View More

When you have fulfilled all degree requirements, you will earn your Harvard University degree: Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Extension Studies, Field: English. Degrees are awarded in November, February, and May, with the annual Harvard Commencement ceremony in May.

Degree Candidate Exclusive Benefits View More

When you become an officially admitted degree candidate, you have access to a rich variety of exclusive benefits to support your academic journey. To learn more, visit degree candidate academic opportunities and privileges .

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

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• Program Requirements: Ph.D.

Below is an overview of degree requirements for the PhD in History of Science. The requirements may also be found in the History of Science section of the GSAS Policies web site.

Current students may also consult the HoS Graduate Program Canvas Site for information and resources.

Advising and Progress

For more information on advising expectations, please see the History of Science PhD Program Advising Best Practices Document .

The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) serves as the primary advisor to all first-year PhD students. In addition first-year students are also strongly encouraged to seek guidance about their academic and course plans from other faculty whose research interests correspond to their own. Students are encouraged to take courses with faculty they might ask to serve on their General Examination committee.

During the second year, students are jointly advised by the DGS and the chair of the student’s General Exam Committee.

First and second-year students meet with the DGS at the start of each semester for the first two years to discuss their plan of study. Students also meet with the graduate program coordinator at the beginning of each semester, submitting a completed  History of Science Department PhD Degree Requirements Worksheet.  This is to ensure that students are fulfilling the necessary requirements.

The formal advisor during the third year is the Chair of the student’s Prospectus Committee. Upon acceptance of the Prospectus, the chair of the Dissertation Committee becomes the student’s primary advisor.

Starting in the G3 year, students and advisors both complete an annual progress report (due in April) and meet to discuss progress and academic plans. ( This form is available on the HoS Graduate Program website .) All students’ progress is reviewed each year by the department at a May faculty meeting in which a determination is made of students’ qualification for continuing graduate work in light of both departmental and GSAS requirements.

The DGS and the Department Chair are always available to provide support and advice at any stage of the graduate program. Students are encouraged to seek help from either of these individuals if any part of the advising process seems not to be working as it should.

For more information about advising procedures and resources, see the HoS Advising Timeline and the HoS Advising Best Practices documents available on the HoS Graduate Program website.

First and Second Year of Graduate Study

Students must be in residence for minimum of two years of full-time study. While in residence, students are expected to attend the department seminar.

Coursework and Research Papers

Course Requirements

Sixteen four-credit courses or the equivalent, plus a two-credit course, Colloquium on Teaching Practices, normally taken in the fall of the G3 year, including:

• Two seminars: Historiography in History of Science (HISTSCI 303A) and Research Methods in the History of Science (HISTSCI 303B)
• Four must be offered by DHS.
• At least one must focus substantially on pre-1800 topics and one must focus substantially on post-1800 topics. (See HOS Temporal Course Distribution for more details.)
• One must be taken outside DHS.
• Eight electives, of which up to five may be graduate-level reading courses in the history of science or other divisions, departments, or committees
• The Colloquium on Teaching Practices (two credits) taken in the first year of employment as a Teaching Fellow (normally the G3 year)

Note: The four graduate seminars in DHS may include courses taught in other departments by faculty in the Department of the History of Science, courses cross-listed as HISTSCI, and graduate courses in Science, Technology, and Society offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . (A maximum of three courses may be taken at MIT). All other courses count as outside the department. Graduate reading courses or independent studies do not fulfill the graduate seminar requirement.

Note: The department does not accept transfer credits. However, students who matriculate into the doctoral program after receiving an AM degree in History of Science or who take graduate courses as Special Students in the department are eligible to transfer up to eight four-unit courses.

Research Papers

In the first two years of graduate study, students must write two research papers, at least one for a departmental course. Papers must be between 7500 and 10,500 words (exclusive of notes and bibliography); each must earn a grade of at least A-. At least one must display serious engagement with archival or other primary sources (which may include printed and/or digital materials and objects); the other may be based on fieldwork observation (e.g., ethnographic, participant-observer) or involve media production (e.g., interactive web, audio, video/photographic, museum exhibition).

One of these essays may be an independent work not connected to a course, but it is expected that the essay will have been substantially written and researched during the course of enrollment in the PhD Program. In this case, the DGS will designate a faculty member to grade the essay.

The first paper should be submitted by 1 June of the G1 year to the Graduate Program Coordinator, CC’ing the course instructor. Ordinarily this essay is written in the context of the required Research Methods course.

The second paper should be submitted by 1 April of the G2 year to the Graduate Program Coordinator. Ordinarily this is written in the context of a departmental or external graduate seminar.

By the end of first semester of the G2 year, one of these papers should be shared and discussed with one of the student’s advisor (normally the Chair of the student’s General Exam Committee).

Grades and Assessment

Eight four-credit courses must be passed at a grade level of B or above in the first year of study.

The grade of Incomplete (INC) is given in extraordinary circumstances. The decision to give an Incomplete is at the discretion of each faculty member. Students with more than one INC on their record at the end of a semester will receive a letter of warning from the department and are at risk of being placed into “unsatisfactory status.”

GSAS policy requires that academic work must be completed, and the grade converted to a letter grade before the end of the next registration period (for example coursework for an incomplete received in the fall of 2022 must be completed before the first day of registration for the fall of 2023). A petition for an extension of time for incomplete work signed by the course instructor and director of graduate studies must be submitted to the GSAS Dean of Student Affairs Office for any course work completed after the end of the next registration period.

All courses must be graded before a student is permitted to teach. Students with outstanding course requirements (excluding the Teaching Colloquium normally taken in G3 year) are not permitted to sit for the general examination.

Language Requirement

All students must demonstrate proficiency in at least one language other than English upon submission of the dissertation prospectus in November of the G3 year (see below). The language(s) in question should reflect students’ research interests and ordinarily will be agreed on in consultation with the DGS and intended dissertation director at the beginning of the first year of graduate study; the list may be revised as necessary to reflect students’ changing intellectual trajectories. Some students may enter with all the language preparation they will need for graduate study in their chosen fields. Others may have an elementary or intermediate knowledge of a language or languages and may improve on that knowledge by taking additional coursework, including first-, second-, or third-year language courses and/or the reading courses offered by some departments, whether during the regular academic year or in summer.

Students may demonstrate proficiency in one of the following ways: 1) completing two semesters of foreign-language coursework, and receiving a grade of A- or higher in the courses; 2) completing a summer Reading Knowledge or other summer language course approved in advance by the DGS and receiving a grade of A- or higher; 3) completing upper-level coursework in a language other than English; 4) making substantial use of non-English texts in one or more seminar papers or in the preparation of general examination fields and prospectuses, or 5) passing a language exam offered by the department. Proficiency is assumed in the case of native speakers and bilingual students, as long as they are skilled in both reading and speaking.

To document proficiency, students must email the graduate program coordinator, cc’ing the advisor and the faculty member who certifies the student’s language skills; students should list the language(s) and the means by which proficiency has been demonstrated. Students taking language reading courses at Harvard Summer School or in an external institution should have a transcript sent to the graduate program coordinator.

As students’ fields of study develop, they may find that they need to acquire new languages or further develop their skills in ones they already know. This should be discussed by students and their advisors on a regular basis as part of the advising process.

Year 2: The General Examination

PhD students in the History of Science normally take the General Examination at the end of the spring semester of the G2 year. The aim of the General Examination is to deepen and expand students’ historical knowledge for the purposes of both research and teaching. It is an oral examination in three fields, each one directed by a different faculty examiner. Students are not expected to demonstrate an encyclopedic command of detail but, rather, to give evidence of understanding the main historical developments in each field, mastery of the chief historiographic traditions associated with a particular content area, and an ability to discuss particular sciences or topics within relevant historical contexts.

The three examiners constitute the student’s General Examination Committee, one of whom serves as Chair. Each field is chosen in consultation with the DGS, the Chair of the Committee, and individual Committee members. Two fields should be directed by faculty in the Department of the History of Science (or in certain cases by faculty approved by the department to direct a field related to the history of science, technology, or medicine). One field should be directed by a faculty member outside the Department, and students should consult carefully with the DGS and their intended Chair about the scope of that field and who might be asked to direct it. Occasionally, a single field may be split into two subfields, each of which is directed by a distinct faculty member.

Once the student has agreed with each Committee member about the title of their field, and the Chair of the Committee has approved all of them, students should submit the General Examination Application and a completed PhD Degree Requirements Worksheet  to the Graduate Program Coordinator. This should happen by early November of the G2 year. These applications are reviewed and then voted on by Department faculty at the following Faculty Meeting.

During the G2 year, students normally enroll in a directed reading course (HSCI 3001) with each of the directors of their three fields during either the Fall or Spring semester. Preparation for the exam may take place in the fall or spring, or it may extend over both semesters. In any case, preparation should involve at least seven meetings between student and faculty member. At the beginning of preparation for each field, the student and director of each field will agree on a set of texts that constitutes the Reading List for that field. This list may be revised over the course of preparation in consultation with the Director of each field.

Early in the spring semester it is the student’s responsibility to coordinate with their General Examination Committee to determine the date and time of the exam. The Examination should be scheduled for two hours: 90 minutes for the exam itself and 30 minutes for the Committee to review the exam and discuss the result with the student. Once the date and time have been determined, the student should inform the Graduate Coordinator who will secure a room and add it to the schedule.

General Examination Applications will normally only be considered once students have completed all required coursework from the G1 year (and have no outstanding Incomplete grades). Moreover, at the time of the exam itself, students should have completed (or should be actively enrolled in) all required coursework for the degree. A rising G3 student who has not passed the General Examination will be allowed one semester in which to complete any outstanding course and writing requirements as well as to sit for and pass the examination. The department may ask students who have not completed this process and passed the Examination by the end of the first semester of the G3 year to withdraw from the Program.

For more information about General Examination Fields and the exam itself, consult the HoS General Examination Procedures document available on the HoS Graduate Program website.

Third Year of Graduate Study

All students are required by the department to participate as teaching fellows or course assistants in at least one course offered by department faculty. Students may not teach during the DCF year and so should plan accordingly. All students are required to complete the Colloquium on Teaching Practices (two credits) offered in the fall of the first year that they teach in the Department, with opportunities for additional sessions in the spring.

Rising G3 students must attend the fall Bok Center Teaching Retreat as well as the department teaching retreat held in late August/early September. The Bok Center offers numerous teaching workshops and resources to enable teaching fellows to hone their teaching skills.

Faculty course instructors hold weekly meetings with teaching fellows to guide them in leading discussion sections and grading assignments and exams.

The Dissertation Prospectus

Students are expected to begin preparing to write their prospectus following the completion of their General Examination at the end of the G2 year. To help facilitate this process, the Department normally holds two “Prospectus Study Days” (in late May and early September).

During the summer or early in the Fall term, students will assemble a Prospectus Committee in consultation with their General Examination Committee Chair, presumptive Primary Advisor, and/or the DGS. The Prospectus Committee normally consists of three faculty members, of which one is the Chair. (While Dissertation Committees may have more than three members, the Prospectus Committee is made up of exactly three members except in exceptional circumstances.) At least two members of this Committee should be members of the Department. Students are encouraged to include junior faculty on their Dissertation Committees.

Over the course of the G3 year's fall semester, students develop a draft of their prospectus in consultation with their Prospectus Committee, which will approve its submission to the department faculty as a whole. Prospectuses are to be submitted to the graduate program coordinator at least one week before the December history of science faculty meeting (usually, by the Thanksgiving break). The faculty discuss prospectuses at this meeting and vote on their approval.

Students are expected to submit their prospectuses in the fall of the G3 year; in all cases, however, approval must be obtained before the end of the G3 year.

After obtaining faculty approval, students present their prospectuses to the history of science community in a department seminar, usually in the spring of the G3 year.

For more information about the prospectus process and requirements consult the Dissertation Prospectus Guidelines Document .

Fellowship Applications

Third Year students often apply for traveling and research fellowships beginning in the late fall of the G3 year as well as other external and internal fellowships. Please see the HoS Graduate Program website for further information. Department Faculty and the GSAS Fellowships Office  offer workshops to assist students in the application process.

Progress Report

Beginning in the G3 year, students and advisors together complete an end-of-the-year Progress Report  which is submitted to the graduate coordinator in April .

Post-prospectus

Annual  Progress Reports   are due in April each year following acceptance of the Dissertation Prospectus.

The Dissertation

Once the student’s Prospectus has been approved by the department, a Dissertation Committee is formed. Normally, the chair of the Prospectus Committee becomes the chair of the Dissertation Committee and the student’s primary advisor. The chair of the Dissertation Committee must be an eligible member of the department, as must at least one other member of the committee. (The names of faculty members available for the direction of the PhD dissertation are listed in the course catalog under History of Science 3000.) Students are encouraged to include junior faculty on their committees.

Timetable for submission of the dissertation

Students planning to graduate in March, May, or November, should meet with the graduate program coordinator to review the graduation process. Students need to provide the coordinator with vital information to ensure the dissertation acceptance certificate may be processed to meet GSAS deadlines and the degree application approved.

Students must submit a final, complete draft of the dissertation to their committees no later than six weeks prior to the “dissertations are due on” date specified by GSAS. All students must submit a pdf of the submitted dissertation with the signed dissertation acceptance certificate to the graduate coordinator.

Committees will read and comment on the dissertation draft, and ask for any revisions, no later than three weeks prior to the same date.

Students will make any necessary changes and submit the dissertation in its final form to the committee and to the department no later than one week prior to the “due on” date.

The dissertation should be an original contribution to knowledge. It must conform to the online description, Formatting your Dissertation , on the GSAS Policies website.

Dissertation Defense

The dissertation defense in History of Science ordinarily takes place after the members of the Dissertation Committee have approved the dissertation. The dissertation defense is not required to receive the doctoral degree, but students often find the forum useful as they further their research. The Graduate Program Coordinator will assist students in setting a defense date.

Duration of Study

Work for the degree should be completed within a total of six years. Normally, students take a Dissertation Completion Fellowship during the year that they complete the dissertation. However, in cases in which the dissertation is not completed, the Graduate School permits students to remain enrolled in the PhD Program for one year following the Dissertation Completion Fellowship year. An extension beyond this one-year limit may be considered by the Department and the Graduate School in extraordinary circumstances.

Please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator (Linda Schneider) at [email protected] or 617-495-9978.

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Harvard Griffin GSAS is a leading institution of graduate study, dedicated to identifying and attracting the most promising students to form a dynamic and diverse community and training them as intellectual leaders who embody Harvard’s tradition of excellence. We offer PhDs and select master’s degrees in programs that connect students with all parts of the University, additionally providing opportunities for non-degree study through visiting and outreach programs.

We’re proud of our diverse community representing many identities, including but not limited to abilities, belief systems, ethnicities, genders, nationalities, races, socioeconomic statuses, sexes, and sexual orientations. At Harvard Griffin GSAS, we understand that diversity is important to sustaining Harvard’s excellence as an academic institution, and we strive to create an inclusive environment where all students can thrive and grow academically and personally. All members of the community play an integral role in nurturing a welcoming community, and our Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (EDIB) works in partnership with faculty, staff, and students towards this goal.

Our aim is to attract the most qualified candidates and make Harvard financially accessible to all degree students. PhD students receive a financial support package that includes a stipend and tuition grants for at least five years. Whether you are a PhD student or studying for a master’s degree, the dedicated staff of the Office of Financial Aid can help you develop a plan that enables you to secure the resources necessary to pursue your graduate education.

Harvard Griffin GSAS offers a wide array of resources designed to help you thrive academically and personally. The Resources section of the website lists many of the available resources, including the important offices below.

Offering social, intellectual, and recreational activities designed to help students make connections outside of the classroom, lab, or library.

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Tuition break: Residents of the following states and islands can enroll in our MA and PhD programs at a reduced tuition of 1.5x the regular Hawai’i resident tuition rates : Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Idaho, Guam, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.  Click here to find out more.

Applications for admission to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs are accepted for the Fall semester only.

Additional admissions information for international applicants is available on the Office of Graduate Education’s website: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/graduate/content/prospective-students

Applying to the M.A. Program

We offer a BA-MA Combined Pathway Program that allows exceptionally motivated English majors at UHM to earn both degrees in as little as 5 years. 

The deadline to submit all application materials for the M.A. and BA-MA Combined Pathway programs is January 1 .

Applying to the Ph.D. Program

Applicants to the Ph.D. program must hold or expect to hold prior to matriculation a Master’s degree in English or a closely related field.

The deadline to submit all application materials for the Ph.D. program is  December 1 .

Unclassified Students

Students who have received their bachelor’s degrees but who have not been admitted to the graduate program may apply to UH Mānoa as post-baccalaureate unclassified (PBU) students. Once admitted, such students may take graduate courses in English (except for 605) with the permission of the instructor and the Graduate Director. PBU students who are interested in applying for admission to the program at some future date should meet with the Graduate Director in English for advising and for a discussion of which courses will apply to their degree. Upon admission, PBU students have to petition for such courses to be transferred toward their degree. For information on applying as a PBU student, see the Office of Graduate Education’s website: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/graduate/ .

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19 Facts About Tim Walz, Harris’s Pick for Vice President

Mr. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, worked as a high school social studies teacher and football coach, served in the Army National Guard and chooses Diet Mountain Dew over alcohol.

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By Simon J. Levien and Maggie Astor

• Published Aug. 6, 2024 Updated Aug. 9, 2024

Until recently, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was a virtual unknown outside of the Midwest, even among Democrats. But his stock rose fast in the days after President Biden withdrew from the race, clearing a path for Ms. Harris to replace him and pick Mr. Walz as her No. 2.

Here’s a closer look at the Democrats’ new choice for vice president.

1. He is a (very recent) social media darling . Mr. Walz has enjoyed a groundswell of support online from users commenting on his Midwestern “dad vibes” and appealing ordinariness.

2. He started the whole “weird” thing. It was Mr. Walz who labeled former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, “weird” on cable television just a couple of weeks ago. The description soon became a Democratic talking point.

3. He named a highway after Prince and signed the bill in purple ink. “I think we can lay to rest that this is the coolest bill signing we’ll ever do,” he said as he put his name on legislation declaring a stretch of Highway 5 the “Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway” after the musician who had lived in Minnesota.

4. He reminds you of your high school history teacher for a reason. Mr. Walz taught high school social studies and geography — first in Alliance, Neb., and then in Mankato, Minn. — before entering politics.

5. He taught in China in 1989 and speaks some Mandarin. He went to China for a year after graduating from college and taught English there through a program affiliated with Harvard University.

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