FAS
‘Opportunity to Experiment’: Visiting HBCU Scholars Praise Harvard’s Visiting Professorship Program
Four visiting professors from historically Black colleges and universities praised Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Visiting Professorship Program for offering the opportunity and funding to explore their scholarly work.
Garber Privately Tells Faculty That Harvard Must Rethink Messaging After GOP Victory
Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 said the turn against higher education in Washington posed a greater threat to the University than anything in recent memory, making his most direct comments yet on Republicans’ sweep to power during a closed-door session of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Harvard’s Derek Bok Center Lays Off 5 Employees Under New Faculty Director
The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning quietly laid off at least five employees over the past two weeks as part of a restructuring effort, reducing its total staff by almost 25 percent.
Harvard College Will Place Students on Involuntary Leave for Missing 2 Weeks of Class
Harvard College students who miss two weeks of classes will be placed on involuntary leaves of absence “in most cases” under a Student Handbook amendment that will take effect in the 2025-26 academic year.
Social Science Dean Lawrence Bobo To Take Unexpected Leave in Spring Semester
Harvard Dean of Social Science Lawrence D. Bobo will take a leave of absence during the spring 2024 semester due to “unanticipated personal matters,” he wrote in an email to Social Science faculty Monday afternoon.
Harvard Denied Its Only Yiddish Professor Tenure. Did the Process Fail Him?
When Yiddish studies professor Saul Noam Zaritt was denied tenure in June at the direction of Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76, Zaritt’s own tenure review committee was stunned. They say Harvard mishandled the case — and left the future of Yiddish instruction in limbo.
David Laibson, Rumored Frontrunner for College Dean, Says He Doesn’t Want It
Economics professor David I. Laibson ’88, who many expected to be a leading candidate to become the next dean of Harvard College, has informed Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra that he does not want the job.
FAS Faculty Council in Support of Increasing SEAS Representation
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is set to allocate three seats on its Faculty Council to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences following a proposal at the Nov. 6 faculty meeting.
Female Harvard Faculty Retire Earlier on Average, FAS Report Reveals
Female Harvard faculty members are retiring earlier than their male counterparts, per the 2024 Faculty Trends report presented at a Faculty of Arts and Sciences Administration meeting last week.
Harvard FAS Reports $3 Million Surplus for Fiscal Year 2024, Lowest Since 2020
The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences closed fiscal year 2024 with a $3 million surplus — its smallest surplus since 2020, the school announced last week in its annual financial report.
Harvard Officials Wanted Harsher Discipline for Student Protesters, Report Shows
Top University officials privately lambasted the schools’ disciplinary committees for not imposing harsher penalties on students who participated in the pro-Palestine protests that rocked Harvard’s campus earlier this year.
Harvard’s FAS Received $300 Million Last Year. Its Graduate School Has ‘Pretty Much No Funds.’
Despite bearing the name of billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin ’89, the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences “has pretty much no funds,” Dean Emma Dench said in an interview with The Crimson last month.
No ID Checks, but Harvard ‘Determining Next Steps’ After Second Faculty Study-In
Roughly 35 Harvard faculty members held a silent study-in in Widener Library on Friday afternoon, marking the second time faculty have gathered in the library to denounce the University’s protest restrictions.
Harvard College Dean Khurana Accused of Misrepresenting Professor’s Actions in Congress Report
Classics professor Richard F. Thomas accused College Dean Rakesh Khurana of falsely characterizing another professor’s role in the pro-Palestine encampment during a faculty meeting this week.
FAS Dean Hoekstra Defends 2-Week Library Bans for Harvard Activists
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra gave a full-throated endorsement of Harvard Library’s decision to temporarily ban protesters who staged library study-ins Tuesday.
Harvard Faculty Appeal Temporary Suspensions From Widener Library
Faculty members who were temporarily banned from Widener Library for participating in a study-in protest appealed their sanctions to Harvard Library, calling their suspensions “unlawful violations” of their contracts.
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.
Harvard FAS to Review Student Disciplinary Processes After Faculty Backlash
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is reviewing the disciplinary processes of both Harvard College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, months after many professors criticized the schools’ sanctions against pro-Palestine protesters as inconsistent and excessive.
Massive Meteor May Have Supercharged Early Microbial Life on Earth, Harvard Study Finds
A meteorite 200 times larger than the one that wiped out Earth’s dinosaurs may have been critical for the development of early microbial life on the planet three billion years ago, according to a Harvard study published last week.
Harvard Faculty Overwhelmingly Donated to Democrats Ahead of 2024 Election
Members of Harvard’s governing boards and faculty donated more than $2.3 million to political candidates and causes ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a Crimson analysis found.
10 Faculty to Serve on College Dean Search Faculty Advisory Committee
Ten members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will serve on the faculty advisory committee advising FAS Dean Hopi Hoesktra on the search for the next Dean of the College, per the Harvard Office of the Secretary website.
Hoekstra Issues New Guidance to Allow Chalking Despite Harvard Campus Use Rules
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences will once again permit chalking in campus spaces — so long as the chalk does not deface school property, according to a new interim guidance on how the FAS will enforce Harvard’s new campus use rules.
Harvard Academic Workers Union Release Report on ‘Demoralizing and Degrading’ Time Caps
More than 90 percent of 341 surveyed students, alumni, and faculty in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences called for abolishing time caps, Harvard Academic Workers-United Auto Workers presented in a Wednesday report.