ACADEMIC RESOURCES

DEPARTMENTS

The chair is the chief academic officer of the department or committee and is responsible for providing leadership in the formation and implementation of policy regarding the educational experiences of undergraduate and graduate students.

The director of graduate studies of a department or committee helps to create an environment that encourages the professional development of all its graduate students and organizes programs to support this development. The director of graduate studies may offer skills workshops or colloquia focusing on strategically choosing courses or seminar paper topics for pre-generals students and colloquia providing instruction and support for presenting papers and writing journal articles for post-generals students. The director of graduate studies monitors the academic progress of the graduate students and participates in the establishment of departmental policies.

The director of administrative services, administrative officer, or department administrator is responsible for the implementation of policy and acts as a liaison between University and FAS offices and the department or committee. In some departments this administrator serves the role of the graduate student coordinator.

The graduate student coordinator is a liaison between the Graduate School and the department or committee and implements department and Graduate School policy. This individual provides information on resources available to graduate students within the department or committee and throughout the University. The graduate student coordinator aids the faculty in monitoring the progress of graduate students.

For information about the structure of a specific department or committee, please contact that department or committee.

OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR

Michael Burke, registrar

Marilyn Danz, associate registrar

See Chapter V, Registrar’s office.

BUREAU OF STUDY COUNSEL

Center for Academic and Personal Development

The Bureau of Study Counsel offers academic, personal, and consultative services for graduate students to help them thrive in their work, education, and personal development at Harvard. Services include academic and personal counseling; discussion groups and workshops related to student life and learning such as Dissertation Writers Support Group, Time Management, Speaking Up in Class, and What Are You Doing With Your Life?; academic peer tutoring in specific courses; peer consultation for conversational and cultural skills for non-native English speakers; the Harvard Course in Reading and Study Strategies; and professional consultation for teaching fellows and residents tutors/proctors on issues related to their work with undergraduates. BSC is a department of the Harvard University Health Services.

DEREK BOK CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning coordinates a variety of activities that help people who teach undergraduates at Harvard to improve their teaching skills. Consultations are available to individuals who wish to discuss teaching issues privately, with others in the same course, or in groups with specific concerns. The Center provides videotaping and consultants to those teachers who want to examine their classroom performance. The Center recommends that all new teachers arrange to have a class videotaped for subsequent viewing with a consultant. Most of the Center’s tapings occur in two classrooms in the Science Center and are scheduled during normal class meeting times, yet some tapings can be arranged in other Harvard classrooms. All videotapes of classes and practice sessions are strictly confidential, as are the discussions that take place between instructors and teaching consultants.

In addition, the staff tailors programs to specific needs of individuals, courses, and departments. Special programs include the New Faculty Institute, the Head TF Network, the Departmental Teaching Fellow program, the Graduate Writing Fellows program, the Christensen Discussion Leading Seminar, and the International Teaching Fellow program. The Center also provides forums for exchanging ideas about teaching such as the fall and winter teaching conferences (just before the beginning of each term) and numerous events and workshops throughout the term.

The Center’s library, open to all Harvard graduate students, includes books and journals on pedagogy, tip sheets and handouts (many of which are available online), and a series of videotapes produced by the Center and available on loan. Publications by the Center in conjunction with teachers at Harvard include The Art and Craft of Teaching, Voices of Experience: Observations from a Harvard Teaching Seminar, Teaching American Students, Teaching Fellows Handbook, and The Torch & The Firehose.

OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES

Robin Mount, director of career services and director for GSAS and PhD advising
Laura Malisheski, assistant director for GSAS and PhD advising
Amy Sanford, assistant director for GSAS and PhD advising

The Office of Career Services (OCS) offers assistance to GSAS students and alumni preparing for academic and nonacademic careers. Through individual counseling, workshops, guest speakers, work groups, and extensive library and alumni resources, the office provides information about career opportunities and instruction in the process of self-assessment, career exploration, and the job search.

The GSAS counselors work with students individually and in groups to guide them through the career development process. Academic job search panels and workshops are held both at OCS and in some academic departments. Interview training is available for those preparing for professional meeting interviews, campus visits, or nonacademic jobs. The online OCS Dossier Service keeps letters of recommendation from professors on file and sends them out on request, and is available to all GSAS students applying for academic positions, postdoctoral positions, or fellowships.

Students considering nonacademic careers can explore options by talking with a GSAS counselor and by attending workshops and programs such as the annual Career Options Day, Career Transition Work Group, and the Business Management Study Group. Students may also make use of extensive resources, job listings, and recruiting opportunities including Crimson Careers (an online jobs and internship database, including on-campus recruiting opportunities), Crimson Compass (an online database of alumni who have volunteered to talk to students about their career fields), and the annual Career Forum.

The programs and events developed by the office are announced in the GSAS Bulletin and are listed on the OCS calendars. Students may also subscribe to email listservs to receive timely information related to academic and non-academic careers. Drop-in hours are held Mondays, 1:00-4:00pm, and students may schedule an individual appointment through the Crimson Careers system. Please direct any questions to the OCS front desk at 617-495-2595.

DIRECTOR OF FELLOWSHIPS

Dr. Cynthia Verba

In addition to administering the major GSAS fellowships competitions and the Fulbright programs, Cynthia Verba offers individual counseling and other services to assist students with a variety of issues related to fellowships and professional development: how to write a polished fellowship proposal, how to prepare a curriculum vitae, how to approach professors for letters of recommendation, how to make effective use of both the formal and informal graduate advising process, how to engage in professional activities such as colloquia, delivering papers at professional meetings or publishing articles, and how to finish the PhD degree in a timely fashion. For appointments, call 617-495-1814. Counseling on these issues is complemented by workshops and publications. The following publications are available to all GSAS students at the GSAS website.

1) Scholarly Pursuits: A Practical Guide to Academe, with samples of winning applications, is also available in print format free of charge to GSAS students at Holyoke Center 350.

2) The Graduate Guide to Grants

3) The Harvard Guide to Postdoctoral Fellowships

 

Detailed information on Fulbrights and major Harvard fellowships is also available on the GSAS fellowships website.

THE GSAS WRITING TUTOR

The GSAS Writing Tutor, Dr. Suzanne Smith, offers free individual consultations to graduate students working on their own writing, including dissertations. Students at any stage of their writing may sign up for one-hour conferences with a specially trained tutor. Contact the writing tutor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Harvard Writing Project
617-495-2566
The Harvard Writing Project can help teaching fellows learn how to encourage their students to write better, more persuasive papers. HWP consultants are available to help organize special TF training sessions, develop course-specific teaching guides, and lead workshops on responding to and evaluating student writing, designing writing assignments, and teaching the writing process.
For more information about working with an HWP consultant, contact Dr. James Herron, HWP assistant director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LIBRARIES

The Harvard University Library, dating from 1638, is the oldest library in the United States and the largest university library in the world. It consists of more than sixteen-million volumes housed in over seventy libraries, most of which are located in Cambridge and Boston. More than half of these volumes are located in the libraries of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).
The Harvard College Library (hcl.harvard.edu) comprises the largest group of FAS libraries. In addition to Widener Library and Houghton Library (described below), the College Library includes Cabot Science, Lamont, Fine Arts, Loeb Music, Harvard-Yenching, Tozzer, Quad and Fung. There are, as well, a number of special and depart-mental libraries within FAS.

Along with Cabot Library, the sciences are represented by Tozzer (anthropology), Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library, Biological Laboratories Library, Blue Hill Meteorological Library, botany libraries, Center for Astrophysics Library, Chemistry Library, Birkhoff Mathematical Library, Gordon McKay Library of the Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard Forest Library, Mayr Museum of Comparative Zoology Library, and Physics Research Library.

Libraries for the social sciences include Lamont, Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard-MIT Data Center, Henry A. Murray Research Archive, Center for European Studies Library, Center for International Affairs Library, Center for Middle Eastern Studies Library, H. C. Fung Library, and Social Relations/Sociology Library.

The humanities are represented by Widener Library (see below), the Fine Arts Library, Loeb Music Library, Harvard-Yenching Library, History Departmental Library, Houghton Library (see below) and Robbins Library of Philosophy.

Other Faculties of the University maintain libraries, including the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Baker Library (Harvard Business School), Countway Library of Medicine, Gutman Library (Graduate School of Education), Law School Library, Library of the Harvard Kennedy School, and Loeb Library (Graduate School of Design).

More specific information on the holdings and the facilities of the libraries can be found on the Harvard Libraries website, which provides access to HOLLIS (Harvard Online Library Information System) catalog, other major university catalogs, and a variety of online resources. Individual library websites and the Harvard University Library’s Map Guide are also good sources of information.

Most libraries offer reference assistance in using the collections. The Research Services staff of the HCL libraries offers in-depth assistance including course-related instruction sessions and individual research consultation online.

Many libraries maintain materials on reserve for GSAS courses.

ACCESS
Graduate students with valid IDs have access to most of Harvard’s libraries. However, each library establishes its own access policies, and these may vary significantly from one to the next. 

All GSAS students, regardless of year, are automatically given extended loan for regular loan items at Widener Library.  The information regarding extended loan is on the HCL web site here: http://hcl.harvard.edu/info/borrowing/extended_loan_prgm.cfm) and below is a summary:

GSAS G1 – G3 students may request extended loan privileges at the Fine Arts and Loeb Music Library in person or by filling out the online form at the link above.

For libraries not mentioned here, GSAS students may inquire at the individual library to see if extended loan is available.

Graduate students should consult individual libraries and the Harvard Libraries website for specific information about library hours and circulation and reserves policies.Library privileges for spouses of students may be arranged at the Library Privileges office at Widener Library, Room 130.

Graduate students may apply for an assigned carrel in Widener or Pusey Library in the Widener Billing Office, Room 135, or online. A limited number of carrels are available to graduate students in Tozzer (anthropology), Loeb Music (music), and Harvard-Yenching (East Asian studies) libraries. Inquire at each for details.

Students requiring accessible library services are directed to the circulation desks of individual libraries for assistance in getting books. If special arrangements are required, students should contact the staff of the individual libraries.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF LIBRARY USERS
Every user of the library has a responsibility to safeguard the integrity of library resources; to respect the restrictions placed on access to and the use of those resources; to report to library officers the theft, destruction or misuse of those resources by others; and to respect the rights of others to the quiet use of the library. All libraries and their staff are authorized to take appropriate action to ensure the safety and security of library spaces, resources, and patrons.

The University’s libraries are maintained for its students, faculty, staff, and other authorized members of the University and scholarly community. Except when specific authorization is granted to a commercial user, the systematic exploitation for profit of library resources, including its databases, is prohibited. It is inappropriate for students and others to sell data or to act as agents for those who do or to use their library privileges for reasons other than their personal academic pursuits.

Students who fail to comply with library rules and regulations will be subject to revocation of library privileges, disciplinary action, and legal prosecution. In particular, the unauthorized removal of any book, manuscript, microform, or other materials or property and the destruction, defacement, or abuse of any library materials or other resources are matters of grave concern. All library users will be subject to the fines and penalties of the administering faculty and of the University as well as the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts governing crimes against property.

WIDENER LIBRARY
Widener Library, located in Harvard Yard, is the largest library of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and contains the largest research collection in humanities and social sciences, including primary collections in Slavic, Middle Eastern, and Hebrew and Yiddish languages. East Asian vernacular materials are held in the Harvard-Yenching Library. Widener also houses several departmental and special libraries, including Child Memorial Library (English and American literature and language), Gibb Islamic Seminar Library, History of Science Library, Linguistics Library, Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Library, Paleography Library, Robinson Celtic Seminar Library, Sanskrit Library, and Smyth Classical Library. Library tours are held every Thursday at 3:30 during the term. Individual consultations are available year-round by appointment.

Parts of the building are wheelchair accessible from the Massachusetts Ave. entrance.

HOUGHTON LIBRARY

The Houghton Library, the principal repository for the rare books and manuscripts belonging to Harvard College, is located east of Widener Library in Harvard Yard. The Reading Room is open to all adult scholars. Departments of Houghton, each with a curatorial staff, include Early Books and Manuscripts, Modern Books and Manuscripts, Early Modern Books and Manuscripts, the Hyde Collection of Samuel Johnson and his Circle, Printing and Graphic Arts, and the Harvard Theatre Collection. The George Edward Woodberry Poetry Room (located in Lamont Library) contains a collection of contemporary books and recordings, and is also a part of Houghton. Houghton’s Edison and Newman exhibition room is normally open during library hours. Tours of the library, including the Emily Dickinson, Keats, Hyde, Lowell, and Richardson rooms are given Fridays at 2:00 p.m.

Call 617-495-2440 or 617-495-2441 to make arrangements for wheelchair access.

RESEARCH LIBRARIES GROUP (RLG)

The Research Libraries Group (RLG) is a not-for-profit organization of more than 150 research libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural memory institutions. It was founded in 1974 by The New York Public Library and Columbia, Harvard, and Yale universities. To determine which schools and institutions are members, check http://www.oclc.org. Select About RLG and then Members. Visiting PhD students in degree programs at member schools have reading room privileges at Widener. GSAS students visiting a member school should contact the library privilege office at that school to determine the privileges it provides.

RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is dedicated to creating and sharing transformative ideas across the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The Fellowship Program annually supports the work of fifty leading artists and scholars. Academic Ventures fosters collaborative research projects and sponsors lectures and conferences that engage scholars with the public. The Schlesinger Library documents the lives of American women of the past and present for the future, furthering the Institute's commitment to women, gender, and society.

The Institute contributes to the richness of a graduate student's intellectual experience at Harvard by offering grants through the Fellowship Program and the Schlesinger Library and by hosting lectures with intriguing scholars doing pioneering work:

RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE DISSERTATION COMPLETION FELLOWSHIPS
Cynthia Verba, director

Each year, the Institute offers a few Radcliffe Institute Dissertation Completion Fellowships to doctoral students in the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Radcliffe Institute graduate fellowships provide a stipend of $25,000, tuition and health fees, and a workspace with a computer at the Radcliffe Institute's Byerly Hall. Radcliffe Institute graduate fellows reside in Cambridge during the fellowship year and participate in the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program by attending weekly talks and lunches with Radcliffe Institute fellows at the forefront of the arts, journalism, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

THE SCHLESINGER LIBRARY DISSERTATION GRANTS

The Schlesinger Library, the world's premier repository of materials documenting the lives and work of American women, awards dissertation grants up to $3,000 to scholars for a variety of research projects that require the use of its special collections and resources. Dissertation grants are open to men and women who are enrolled in a doctoral program in a relevant field, have completed their course work toward the doctoral degree, and have an approved dissertation topic by the time the application is submitted. For example, in 2011–2012, Josie Rodberg at Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences earned a grant for "Human Rights, Women's Rights, States' Rights: The Struggle over Federal Family Planning Programs in the United States."

Events

Graduate students are welcome to attend the Institute's events—annual lecture series, conferences, science symposia, and exhibits—to share discoveries and engage scholars and faculty from around the world and across all disciplines. In recent years, graduate students have attended large two-day conferences and small lunches featuring the former vice president (now president) of Malawi, the first woman Supreme Court justice, legendary filmmakers, renowned American economists, best-selling novelists, and leading climate change scientists and policymakers.

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study allows Harvard graduate students to promote new ways of thinking and seize opportunities to advance their work. Learn more about the people, events, and programs of the Radcliffe Institute at www.radcliffe.harvard.edu, Facebook.com/RadcliffeInstitute, or Twitter.com/RadInstitute.

 

MUSEUMS

Harvard's museums offer some of the finest collections of their kind in the world. A valid ID card provides free access to all of the University museums. A brief description of the permanent collections of some of the museums is provided below. The Harvard Gazette lists special exhibitions and events on an ongoing basis, also available online at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/section/calendar/gazette-calendar/. The museums' websites provide extensive background about the collections and exhibitions. Pamphlets guide for the Harvard Museums are available at the Holyoke Information Center.

HARVARD ART MUSEUMS

The Harvard Art Museums, among the world’s leading arts institutions, comprise three museums (Fogg Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum) and four research centers (Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, Harvard Art Museums Archives, Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Turkey). The Harvard Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collection, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. The collections include approximately 250,000 objects in all media, ranging in date from antiquity to the present and originating Europe, North America, North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Integral to Harvard University and the wider community, the art museums and research centers serve as resources for students, scholars, and other visitors. For more than a century, they have been the nation’s premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their seminal role in developing the discipline of art history in this country. To learn more about the collection and browse artworks online, visit the Collection page.

In 2008 the Art Museums' building at 32 Quincy Street, formerly the home of the Fogg and Busch-Reisinger museums, closed for a major renovation. During this renovation, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at 485 Broadway remains open and has been reinstalled with some of the finest works representing the collections of all three museums. When complete, the renovated historic building on Quincy Street will unite the three museums in a single state-of-the-art facility designed by architect Renzo Piano.

A special exhibition gallery and teaching gallery are located on the fourth floor of the Sackler Museum. Call 617-495-9400 for more information or see the Art Museums' website for exhibition information and a listing of events including lectures and gallery talks. Harvard students and affiliates receive free admission plus one guest. Wheelchair accessible.

To keep up with news and events at the Art Museums, sign up for the monthly email newsletter or join the Art Museums on Facebook and Twitter.

Students are invited to join as Student Members of the Harvard Art Museums. Student Members enjoy full membership benefits, including invitations to members-only events, the calendar of exhibitions and programs, and monthly e-mail newsletters, discounted tickets to lectures, seminars, and concerts, and discounts in the Art Museums shop and on Art Museums publications. Annual Student Membership is $45. Join now and receive and additional 10% off your membership. To join, please contact the membership office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Graduate students from across disciplines are encouraged to use the Harvard Art Museums' collections and digital resources for their teaching and research. For teaching fellows interested in incorporating works of art into their curricula, the Art Museums occasionally offer workshops on object-based teaching through the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Individualized workshops or training sessions can also be arranged. During the fall semester, students may make appointments to view works of art for their study or research. For more information, contact Jessica Levin Martinez at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Art Museums also organize art-related programs for graduate students in collaboration with Dudley House and the Graduate Commons, as well as with individual student groups and academic departments. These programs include gallery tours, discussions and workshops. Interested graduate students may contact Akiko Yamagata at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

ADOLPHUS BUSCH HALL

Adolphus Busch Hall at 29 Kirkland Street, the former home of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, presently houses plaster casts of medieval art, an exhibition on the history of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and a famous Flentrop pipe organ, used regularly for Harvard’s organ concert series. See the Harvard Organ Society’s website for schedule.

HARVARD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) presents to the public the collections and research of Harvard University’s three natural history institutions—the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Herbaria, and the Mineralogical and Geological Museum—and research from across the University. Its temporary and permanent exhibits, lectures and special events, and weekend programming attract more than 190,000 visitors annually from Harvard and around the world.
More than 12,000 specimens are on display. Highlights include the world famous Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants (the “Glass Flowers”), a unique collection of over 4,000 glass models by Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, father and son; the world’s only mounted skeleton of the 42-foot long Kronosaurus, a 135-million-year¬old marine reptile; one of the first Triceratops ever described; and a 1,642 lb amethyst geode. New exhibitions New England Forests, which explores the dynamic nature of forest ecosystems and the impact of human activity in shaping the landscape; and Mollusks: Shelled Masters of the Marine Realm, which explores the amazing diversity and history of snails, clams, squid, and other invertebrates that comprise almost a quarter of all known marine species.

Current University ID holders are admitted free with one guest. The Museum is just a short walk down Oxford Street from Memorial Hall and the Science Center.

Wheelchair access is through the basement entrance to the far left of the Museum complex building on Oxford Street or via the adjacent Peabody Museum through Tozzer Library on Divinity Ave.

The Harvard University Herbaria (HUH) is not open to the public. The HUH collections include the internationally acclaimed Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History described above. An extensive research collection of Precambrian fossils, dating back 3.5 billion years, and an historically important collection of economic botany materials are also housed in the Museum building on Oxford Street. For information about botanical collections, research, and archives, visit the Harvard University Herbaria’s website at www.huh.harvard.edu or call 617-495-2365.

The Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) was founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz. The twelve sub-departments—biological oceanography, entomology, herpetology, ichthyology, invertebrate paleontology, invertebrate zoology, mammalogy, marine biology, mollusks, ornithology, population genetics, and vertebrate paleontology—together comprise one of the world’s most extensive holdings for scientifically described materials (type specimens), geographical range, and historical significance. These collections have gained new relevance as human activity increasingly places species and ecosystems at risk. For information about the MCZ’s archives, call the Mayr Library at 617-495-4576. For information about zoological collections, research, and archives, visit the MCZ website or call 617-495-2460.

The Mineralogical and Geological Museum maintains internationally important collections of rocks, minerals, ores, and meteorites that support teaching and research, primarily in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. The Museum’s extraordinarily comprehensive mineral collections are featured in both systematic and topical displays of some 5,000 specimens in the mineral gallery of the Harvard Museum of Natural History. For more information about mineralogical and geological collections and archives, visit the the Mineralogical and Geological Museum website or call 617-495-4758.

PEABODY MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY
Founded in 1866 by George Peabody, the Peabody Museum houses over five million individual objects representing tens of thousands of years of human experience. The collections of the Peabody Museum span the globe and cover millions of years of human cultural, social, and biological history. Few collections in the world can match its breadth and depth. Strongest in the cultures of North and South America and the Pacific Islands, the Peabody is also caretaker to important collections from Africa, Europe, and Asia. In addition to object collections the Museum also houses document archives preserving records of important archaeological and anthropological expeditions as well as an archive of over half a million photographs. The Museum encourages faculty and students to incorporate materials from the Museum’s collections and archives in their courses and research projects. Work-study and internship opportunities are available. For information about the Peabody’s collections, visit the website or write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Wheelchair access is via the adjacent Tozzer Library (21 Divinity Avenue) or through the basement entrance of the Museum of Natural History (Oxford Street parking lot). On weekdays and holidays, call 617-496-1602 for access.

THE SEMITIC MUSEUM at Harvard University

The Semitic Museum at Harvard University houses over 40,000 Near Eastern artifacts, most of which derive from museum-sponsored excavations in Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Tunisia. The Museum is dedicated to the use of these collections for the investigation and teaching of Near Eastern archaeology, history, and culture. The Museum invites Harvard University faculty, teaching fellows, and students to explore and utilize its exhibits and collections. The Museum also mounts educational exhibits while supporting outreach to the general public. For information please visit the website, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
Located in the new wing of the Science Center, the department of the History of Science’s Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments contains one of the finest university collections of its kind in the world. With close to 20,000 artifacts dating from the 15th century to the present, the collection covers a broad range of disciplines, including astronomy, navigation, horology, surveying, geology, meteorology, mathematics, physics, biology, medicine, chemistry, experimental psychology, and communications. Noteworthy among these are scientific instruments that Harvard purchased in London with the help of Benjamin Franklin in 1764 after a disastrous fire destroyed the College’s philosophical apparatus in the old Harvard Hall.

The historical value of the instruments is greatly enhanced by original documents preserved in the Harvard University Archives and by over 6,500 books and pamphlets in the collection’s research library that describe the purchase and use of many of the instruments.

Harvard University has been acquiring scientific instruments for teaching and research for over 300 years, but it was not until 1948 that a serious attempt was made to preserve its historical apparatus as a resource for students and faculty. Since the first exhibition of instruments was held in 1949, the collection has grown rapidly both from within the University and from private donations. Like many other Harvard collections, the Collection’s primary purpose is teaching and research, providing students and scholars with the opportunity to examine and work with artifacts that have made science possible.

The department has two museum galleries (located in Science Center 136 and 251), a research library and instrument study room (Science Center 250), a conservation laboratory, and classroom. Please call ahead for library and gallery hours, 617-495-2779.
Wheelchair accessible.

THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY

The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is the oldest public arboretum in North America and one of the world’s leading centers for the study of plants. Founded in 1872 and designed by America’s first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Arboretum’s first director, Charles Sprague Sargent, the 265-acre Arboretum is a National Historic Landmark and one of the best preserved of Olmsted’s landscapes. Established as a public-private partnership between the City of Boston and Harvard University, the Arboretum is a unique blend of beloved public landscape and respected research institution. The Arboretum provides and supports world-class research, horticulture, and education programs that foster the understanding, appreciation, and preservation of woody plants. The Arboretum comprises one of the largest and best documented woody plant collections in the world, with over 15,000 living plants. The Arboretum supports studies in a diverse range of disciplines, from organismic and evolutionary biology, molecular and developmental biology, and plant physiology, to studies in ecology, environment, and biodiversity. Facilitating investigations in its world-renowned living collection by staff and visiting scientists from around the world, the Arboretum also sends its scientists abroad to collect and study plants in their natural environments.

Facilities include the Weld Hill Research Building with twelve greenhouses, state-of-the-art laboratories, and growth chambers. The herbaria, systematic collections of dried and mounted plants from all over the world, encompass over five million dried plant specimens. It is divided between two locations, the Hunnewell Building (125 Arborway) and the Harvard University Herbaria (22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge). The libraries, also in the two locations, contain more than 250,000 items, including reference books, serials, pamphlets, catalogs, manuscripts, and photographs. The libraries are open to faculty, staff, and students; the Hunnewell Building library is also open to the general public.

The Arboretum is located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston and is accessible by public transportation. The landscape is open dawn until dusk every day of the year, and there is no admission charge. Free tours are available April–September. Adult education classes are offered year-round. The Hunnewell Building Visitor Center is open Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is one of the world's great art museums, where more than one million visitors from around the globe are welcomed each year. The MFA's mission is to serve a wide variety of people—from school children to adults—through direct encounters with works of art from its encyclopedic collection of some 450,000 objects. The Museum is recognized for the quality and scope of its holdings, ranging from ancient Egyptian mummies, murals by John Singer Sargent, and Impressionist paintings by Renoir, Monet, and Degas, to African masks and sculpture, Japanese prints, and photographs by Edward Weston. The Museum's collection is made up of eight departments: Art of the Americas; Art of Europe; Contemporary Art; Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Art of the Ancient World; Prints, Drawings, and Photographs; Textile and Fashion Arts; and Musical Instruments.

In 2010, the Museum opened its expansive Art of the Americas Wing to showcase works from all of the Americas—North, Central, and South—in fifty-three galleries. The wing and the glass-enclosed Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Courtyard are the key elements of the Museum's transformational building and renovation project, designed by architects Foster + Partners, London, which has enriched the ways visitors encounter the Museum's great works of art. The project also included the new Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art that opened in 2011 as a lively art, education, and social space in the Museum.

The MFA offers exhibitions, tours, and opportunities for learning and community engagement, such as gallery talks, lectures, films, and concerts (please see website for list of exhibitions and programs). It also has an extensive online collections database featuring the majority of the works in its collection, on view at www.mfa.org/collections.

The MFA is open seven days a week.  Students from area colleges participating in the University Members Program are admitted free with ID. Admission (which includes two visits in a ten-day period) is $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students age 18 and older, and includes entry to all galleries and special exhibitions. Admission is free for children 6 and younger. Youths 7-17 years of age are admitted free during non-school hours; on school days until 3 p.m., admission for youths will be $10. The museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Patriot’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For more information, visit the MFA website or call 617.267.9300. The MFA is wheelchair accessible.

COMPUTING AT HARVARD

Harvard offers a variety of computing resources for students, including wired and wireless network access in every dorm, additional wireless connectivity in many locations across campus, central and residential computer labs, public laser printers, and computer kiosks. For computer assistance or questions, contact the Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) Support Center:

Phone: (617) 495-9000

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Walk-in: Science Center B-14, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

Web: huit.harvard.edu

HUID / PIN

You will need your Harvard ID number (HUID) and personal identification number (PIN) to register for an email account and to access course materials and other online resources. See pin.harvard.edu for more information.

GSAS Email Account

Every GSAS student receives an FAS Exchange email account with the designation @fas.harvard.edu. This is your official email address through which the Harvard administration and faculty will contact you while you are registered in GSAS. To create your account, visit accounts.fas.harvard.edu/new, and to access your email, go to fasmail.harvard.edu/.

Register with MessageMe

MessageMe, Harvard's emergency notification service, allows the University to contact you quickly in an emergency, wherever you are. Register your cell phone or mobile device to receive voice, text, or email alerts at messageme.harvard.edu.

Computer Purchases

Harvard's Campus Computer Store, located in Science Center B-11, provides educational pricing on Apple and Dell computers, a selection of software for Mac and Windows PCs, including Microsoft and Adobe, and peripherals and accessories. For more information, visit www.computers.harvard.edu, or call (617) 495-5450 or (800) 440-7494.

OTHER COMPUTING RESOURCES

Harvard also has computer resources and systems designed primarily for research purposes. The Research Computing Group manages a high-performance Odyssey computer cluster and has staff with discipline-specific technical expertise in the Sciences. See rc.fas.harvard.edu, or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (617) 299-9724. Similarly, the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) makes accessible statistical and analytical tools for the Social and Health Sciences. Visit iq.harvard.edu, or contact www.iq.harvard.edu/contact or (617) 496-2450. There are also extensive digital research projects led by individual faculty, and the Director of Research Computing in the Arts and Humanities can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . A number of Harvard departments, such as Mathematics (www.math.harvard.edu), manage dedicated computing facilities.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION

Harvard neither sanctions nor censors individual expression of opinion on its systems. The same standards of behavior, however, are expected in the use of electronic mail as in the use of telephones and written and oral communication. Therefore electronic mail, like telephone messages, must be neither obscene nor harassing (see Obscene or Harassing Telephone Calls, Chapter VII). Similarly, messages must not misrepresent the identity of the sender and should not be sent as chain letters or broadcast indiscriminately to large numbers of individuals. This prohibition includes unauthorized mass electronic mailings. For example, e-mail on a given topic that is sent to large numbers of recipients should in general be directed only to those who have indicated a willingness to receive such e-mail.

GSAS STUDENT E-MAIL ACCOUNTS

Every GSAS student must designate an official e-mail account. Since the Graduate School and other offices at Harvard will send official information and notifications to this designated account, it should be on a highly-available service such as that provided by Harvard University Information Technology.

DEPARTMENTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA SERVICES AND THE LANGUAGE RESOURCE CENTER

http://ims.fas.harvard.edu/
http://lrc.fas.harvard.edu/

Media and Technology Services (MTS) provides multimedia support to classes and events occurring in FAS buildings. Supported technology includes: computer and video projection; classroom computers; sound reinforcement systems; audio & video recording/editing; and video conferencing. Services include assisting FAS, Extension, and Summer School classes with classroom media equipment; lecture recording; special event support; film, DVD and videotape rentals for FAS courses; assistive listening systems; and a reservable screening room.

The MTS Main Office supports classes and events that take place in FAS buildings except for the CGIS buildings, the Northwest building, the Science Center and Sever Hall. The Main Office is located in the Science Center Room B-02 (617-495-9460, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). The MTS CGIS Office supports classes and events that take place in the Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) buildings. The CGIS Office is located in CGIS South Building Room S053 (617-495-9807, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). The MTS Northwest Building Office supports classes and events that take place in the Northwest Building. The Northwest Office is located in Northwest Building Room B-111 (617-495-5775, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). The MTS Sever Hall Office supports classes and events that take place in Sever Hall. The Sever Office is located in Sever Hall Room 301 (617-495-9470, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). The MTS Prep Room Office supports classes and events that take place in Science Center. The Prep Room is located in the Science Center Room B-01 (617-495-5357, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).

Wheelchair accessible.

The Media Production Center (MPC) is located at the rear of Rosovsky Hall at 59 Plympton Street (617-495-9440; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). The MPC provides custom audio and video production and duplication services. This Center collaborates with faculty, departments and other media and IT departments to help them create audio and video materials for teaching, outreach and research. These services include: audio and video studio recording: voiceovers, interviews, podcasts, talking heads, musical performances, etc. (our studio is Steinway equipped); video post-production: editing, titling, slide syncing, color correction, etc.; location audio/musical event recording and reinforcement; audio post-production, mixing and mastering; format transfers, audio and video digitizing, trans-coding, and web file creation; disc authoring and duplication, package design; and help and guidance to solve audio and video media problems.

MPC services are available without charge for work performed to exclusively support Faculty of Arts & Sciences courses and course-related activities that are restricted to members of one course. For non-course activities, charges are based on the amount of labor and equipment used to perform the task.

Wheelchair accessible.

The Department of the Language Resource Center (LRC) is located in Lamont Library on the fourth level (617-495-9448; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). The LRC offers multimedia resources to FAS foreign language courses and to other FAS courses using foreign language media. Its high-bandwidth media server provides full-screen materials in 57 languages. Its satellite feed provides international news and a variety of television programs. The LRC also offers CD-quality digital audio of textbook practice materials (enrolled students only). The LRC offers RosettaStone® licenses for current Harvard students, faculty, and staff.

Wheelchair accessible.

OFFICE OF ANIMAL RESOURCES

Dr. Arthur Lage, director, Biological Laboratories, Room 2102

The Office of Animal Resources is responsible for the health and well-being of all vertebrate animals used in research and teaching at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. All individuals using animals in research/teaching must complete the course “The Humane Care of Animals in Research/Teaching.” This course is offered several times a year at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It acquaints participants with Harvard policies, as well as with federal, state, and city of Cambridge regulations, regarding the use of animals. Please contact the director of IACUC Administration at 617-495-1510 for course dates and times.

All members of the Harvard community have a responsibility to report instances of mistreatment of animals or noncompliance with animal-use guidelines. This can be done directly to Arthur Lage, DVM at 617-432-1285, or, if anonymity is desired, to the senior advisor to the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at 617-495-1525. Any questions regarding the animal program should be directed to Dr. Lage.

COMMITTEE ON THE USE OF HUMAN SUBJECTS

The Standing Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research (CUHS), one of Harvard’s federally mandated Institutional Review Boards, is responsible for reviewing proposed studies. Applications must be submitted two weeks prior to committee meetings, which are held monthly throughout the academic year. Judging from the information provided on the application, the committee determines whether the proposed procedures will adequately safeguard the rights and welfare of the subjects. The committee also aims to insure appropriate recruiting practices, permissions, and student time commitments. Some projects may not require full committee review; others may be exempt from review altogether. Students planning research projects should contact a committee research officer to determine whether review is required. Forms, meeting schedules, and reference material are available on the CUHS website.

VETERANS’ BENEFITS

Questions about eligibility for veterans’ benefits should be directed to the Department of Veteran Affairs at 888-442-4551. Students eligible for veterans’ benefits should apply online at the Department of Veterans Affairs website. After having received a letter of eligibility, students should submit it to the GSAS Financial Aid Office at 350 Holyoke Center along with a "Notice of Student Enrollment" form which is available at the SRO website.