Harvard Cancels More Than 30 Fall Courses Following Faculty Departures

Harvard College canceled more than 30 fall classes across at least 20 departments and other programs, according to a Crimson analysis of undergraduate course offerings.

The most cancellations were in History and Literature, where six courses were cancelled following the departure of five lecturers, according to a statement from History and Literature Director of Studies Lauren Kaminsky.

The canceled History and Literature classes included the Hist-Lit 90 seminars “British Soft Power from Shakespeare to Dua Lipa,” “Marx at the Mall: Consumer Culture & Its Critics,” “Global Transgender Histories,” “Indigenous Genders and Sexualities in North America,” “The Making of Race across Latin America,” and “Global Histories of Capitalism.” The cancellations reduced the number of HL90 seminars to 13, down from an initial selection of 19.

The Department of History of Art and Architecture and the Committee on the Study of Religion also canceled three classes each. Courtney B. Lamberth, the director of undergraduate studies for Religion, wrote in a statement to the Crimson that the classes were canceled “due to unexpected medical leaves for the faculty.”

History of Art and Architecture Director of Undergraduate Studies Jennifer L. Roberts did not respond to a request for comment.

Kaminsky attributed the canceled History and Literature classes to four instructors leaving from Harvard and another moving to a different program. A sixth instructor chose to change the course they were offering in response to the cancellations, according to Kaminsky.

Kaminsky added that the committee worked to help students enroll in alternative courses following the cancellations.

“This is not unusual, but it may be newly legible to students because of the change in the timing of fall registration,” Kaminsky wrote, referring to the Faculty of Arts and Science’s new policy requiring students to register for classes one semester in advance.

Zion J. Dixon ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, said he was “kind of disappointed” in the cancellation of the Global Transgender Histories seminar. “There was no other course related to global transgender history, so I kind of had to just pivot and find a different class,” he said.

Cooper H. Skenyon ’27 said he was “quite frustrated” when an Italian course he was enrolled in, “The Cosmos of the Divine Comedy,” was canceled.

“It must have been about two days before I moved in,” he said. “It was a class I was looking forward to, and I knew that it would count for certain credits that I need through the Hist Lit department.”

Harvard’s FAS Office of the Registrar declined to comment on the number of course cancellations, citing office policy.

Angelina X. Ng ’26, a Crimson Arts editor, said it was a “scramble” to be informed on short notice that her Hist-List seminar, “British Soft Power from Shakespeare to Dua Lipa” was canceled.

“It was very sad for me, because I was very excited about the class,” Ng said.

—Staff writer Angelina J. Parker can be reached at angelina.parker@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @angelinajparker.

—Staff writer William G. Sykes can be reached at william.sykes@thecrimson.com.