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The Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures is unique in North America in offering a PhD in Celtic languages and litera­tures. Unlike graduate degree programs in Irish or Welsh, the Harvard program provides training in several Celtic languages and affords the PhD student the opportunity to conduct advanced research in one or more of the Celtic traditions. The department was established in 1940, at which time courses in Celtic had been taught at Harvard for 45 years.

The department offers instruction in the following: Old, Middle, and Modern Irish; Middle and Modern Welsh; Scottish Gaelic; historical backgrounds of early Irish and Welsh; early, medieval, and modern Irish liter­ature in Irish and in translation; early, medi­eval, and modern Welsh literature in Welsh and in translation; Irish and Welsh history and law in their social context; Celtic mythology and folklore; reading of Irish and Welsh manu­scripts. Courses in Breton and Cornish may be available from time to time. Consult Courses of Instruction for availability of courses in a given year. All students study both medieval Irish and Welsh language and literature, and at least one of these languages in its modern form.

Each student works closely with the faculty of the department to formulate a program of study and research, focusing on one or more languages, periods, genres and approaches. The department encourages interdisciplinary work and cooperates with other departments in enabling the student to design a coherent program of study. Typically, a student will choose to concentrate in one of the Celtic languages for the dissertation, although a comparative topic is also possible.

PhD programs in the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures can some­times be specially arranged so as to combine Celtic with other subjects. (See Ad Hoc Degrees.) The Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures cooperates with other depart­ments and committees in providing supple­mentary instruction for students who wish to work in Celtic as a secondary field.

The Harvard College Library is particu­larly strong in the field of Celtic, holding more than 10,000 books on Celtic matters, as well as a considerable number of original manu­scripts and a great many facsimiles of unedited material. Perhaps even more important, however, is the scope of the Harvard collec­tion, since it embraces the whole of the Celtic field and affords the most diversified resources for study and research in Celtic linguistics and literature. The Fred Norris Robinson Celtic Seminar Library (the “Robinson Room”) in Widener Library is a non-circulating library of the resources needed most regularly by students of Celtic.

The intellectual life of the department is much enriched by the Harvard Humani­ties Center Seminar in Celtic Literature and Culture, which sponsors a series of visiting speakers throughout the academic year, by the annual John Kelleher Lecture delivered by a distinguished visiting Celticist, and by the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, a three-day conference held each year in October and organized by the third-year students in the department with the assistance of the second-year students. Selected papers presented at the Colloquium are published in the Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, edited by the student organizers of that colloquium and distributed by Harvard University Press

Master of Arts (AM)

Students are not ordinarily admitted to the department to pursue a terminal AM degree, but an AM degree may be earned while working toward the PhD.

Prerequisites for Admission: See under PhD.

Requirements for the AM Degree

For students matriculated in the Celtic Department and working toward the PhD, and for students matriculated in other depart­ments of GSAS, the minimum requirements for the AM in Celtic are:

Academic Residence — Minimum of one year of full-time study (eight half-courses or equiv­alent). For the financial residence requirement, see Admissions, Costs: Tuition and Fees.

Program of Study — A minimum of six half-courses in the department, three of which must be introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in early Irish or early Welsh (or their equivalents) and at least one addi­tional half-course in another Celtic language; two additional half-courses related to the field of Celtic Studies and approved by the depart­ment’s director of graduate studies.

Languages — The ability to read Latin, to be demonstrated by successful completion (B- grade or better) of Harvard Latin Aab (or its equivalent elsewhere) or departmental examination. The ability to read French and/ or German, to be demonstrated by successful completion (B- grade or better) of Harvard French Ax and/or German S (or equivalent elsewhere), or departmental examination. An equivalent qualification acquired at Harvard or elsewhere (and approved by the director of graduate studies or Celtic department chair) or a departmental examination may also demon­strate competence in any of the languages noted above.

Examinations — No general examinations required.

Thesis — None required. 

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The general scope of the PhD program is outlined above in the preliminary paragraph under Master of Arts (AM). The program is designed not only to prepare students to do serious research in and teach at the university level Celtic languages and literatures, but also to be of sufficient general breadth to prepare students to teach broad courses on language or literature in liberal arts colleges.

Prerequisites for Admission

Degree – Applicants are not required to have a Master’s degree in order to apply for the PhD program. Some entering students hold an advanced degree (AM, MPhil) and some have completed the baccalaureate (BA) alone.

Languages — Some knowledge of a Celtic language is preferred, but not required. In order to anticipate the language requirement, it is desirable that the candidate for admis­sion have knowledge of one or more of the following languages: French, German, and Latin. In addition, candidates are encouraged to contact the department to discuss their interests and the programs available within the department prior to application for admis­sion. Candidates are also required to submit a writing sample (not creative writing and not more than 30 pages) as part of the applica­tion for admission. This should be an example of the candidate’s best academic writing and need not address a topic in Celtic literature or language.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) — In keeping with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences policy, applications must be accompa­nied by GRE scores. 

Requirements for the PhD Degree 

Academic Residence — Minimum of two years of full-time study (16 half-courses or equivalent). For financial residence require­ment, see Admissions, Costs: Tuition and Fees. Scholarship aid cannot be guaranteed after four years of full-time study.

Credit for Work Done Elsewhere — Advanced students are encouraged to do some work abroad, especially in Celtic-speaking areas; limited reduction of departmental course requirements may sometimes be arranged.

Good Standing — The requirements for good standing in the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures are those of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Special Fields — The two normal special fields are Irish and Welsh. Other special fields and combinations may be arranged in consul­tation with the chair of the department.

Program of Study — The student’s program of study must be arranged in consultation with the department’s director of graduate studies.

Languages — In addition to a thorough knowledge of at least two Celtic languages, usually Irish and Welsh, a reading knowledge of three additional foreign languages, French, German, and Latin, is required.

Teaching — Students will normally be eligible for teaching fellowships during their third and fourth years. Students holding the master’s degree may be eligible in their second year. Students teaching in department Core courses must participate in the teaching fellow (TF) orientation program at the beginning of the term in which they will teach, as well as attend course lectures and weekly TF meet­ings with the course head. Students who are fluent in speaking, reading, and writing one of the modern Celtic languages may be eligible to teach introductory and intermediate courses in that language.

General Examination — The general exami­nation is a two-hour oral examination in the general field of Celtic studies as outlined by the basic department reading list and augmented by the student’s special interests within Celtic or an allied field, normally structured for the purposes of the examina­tion as reading lists of primary and secondary materials in four or five areas. It is expected that the examination will be taken after the second year of PhD residency (normally in the fall of the third year, and no later than the second semester of the third year). The examination is conducted by the student’s committee, normally comprising at least two members of the Celtic department and one additional faculty member.

In case of unsatisfactory performance, the student may normally take the examination a second time. A student who has not passed the general examination by the end of the fourth year must withdraw.

The Dissertation — As soon as possible after passing the general examination, and not later than the end of the term following successful completion of the examination, the candidate must identify a dissertation director and submit a brief prospectus of the proposed dissertation. The candidate, in consulta­tion with the dissertation director, will then invite at least two other readers, one of whom must be a member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, to serve as additional readers and to offer guidance as the dissertation progresses. This procedure must have the approval of the chair of the Celtic Department. Two copies of the dissertation must be in the hands of the chair by August 10 for a degree in November, by November 30 for a degree in March, and by March 26 for a degree in May. The final manuscript of the dissertation must conform to the requirements described in the booklet The Form of the PhD Dissertation, available from the Office of the Registrar and online. Students are encouraged to complete the PhD before the end of the sixth year.

Dissertation Presentation — Completion of the dissertation will be marked by an oral presentation of the results of the research to an invited audience of faculty and students.

Ad Hoc Degrees — The Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures encourages students having a strong background in a subject closely related to the field of Celtic studies (e.g., the classics, linguistics, history, English and American literature and language, comparative literature) to petition GSAS for an ad hoc PhD in Celtic and the related field. Interested parties should consult the Celtic department’s director of graduate studies and The GSAS Handbook for details and procedures.

More information regarding courses and programs of study in Celtic Languages and Literatures is available at www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu. For courses in Celtic languages and lLiteratures, visit the website.

Applications for admission and financial aid are available at www.gsas.harvard.edu. 

Recent Dissertation Topics

“‘Fire from Heaven’: Popular Religion and Society in Wales, c. 1400 - 1603” “The Old Irish Hymns of the Liber Hymnorum: A Study of Vernacular Hymnody in Medieval Ireland”

“An Edition of Cáin Lánamna: An Old Irish Tract on Marriage and Divorce Law”

“Bu Dual Dha Sin (That Was His Birthright): Gaelic Scholar Alexander Maclean Sinclair (1840-1924)”

“Breton Song Traditions and the Case of the Gwerzioù: Women’s Voices, Women’s Lives” 

Other Programs in Celtic

• Special Students: Contact the Office of Special Students, Holyoke Center 350, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, for applications and deadlines. Information is available at the website. Browse for courses in Celtic languages and literatures.

• Harvard Extension: Evening courses in Celtic languages and literatures are available almost every semester. The Extension School also offers a master’s of liberal arts (ALM) degree in Celtic. Contact the Harvard Extension School, 51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, or go to the website. Browse for courses in Celtic languages and literatures.

• Summer Courses: Contact the Harvard Summer School, 51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Information is available online. Browse for courses in Celtic languages and literatures.

The Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures offers a Secondary Field in Celtic Medieval Languages and Literatures for Ph.D. students enrolled in other departments at Harvard. Organized in two separate tracks — Early and Medieval Irish, and Medieval Welsh
— the Secondary Field affords an opportunity to achieve professional competence in one of the Celtic languages, the range of its litera­ture, and the scholarship in the field.  For a full description of the PhD secondary field requirements, please visit the website. For further information or assistance, contact the Celtic Department Administrator, Margo Granfors <granfors@ fas.harvard.edu>, or the Director of Graduate Studies, Professor Tomás Ó Cathasaigh < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >. 

Faculty Profiles

Patrick K. Ford, Margaret Brooks Robinson Research Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures. BA, Michigan State University, 1959; AM, Harvard University, 1966; PhD, Harvard University, 1969. Teaching and research interests include early Irish and Welsh languages and literatures; and medieval poetry and its performance.

Catherine McKenna, Chair; Margaret Brooks Robinson Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures; PhD, Harvard University, 1976. Research interests: Welsh narrative prose, bardic poetry, Welsh and Irish hagiography.

Tomás Ó Cathasaigh, Director of Graduate Studies; Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Irish Studies; BA, National University of Ireland (University College Cork), 1962; MA, National University of Ireland (University College Cork), 1968. Research interests: Early and medieval Irish literature, mythology, and language.

For links and more information, visit the Department of Celtic Languages and Litera­tures Website.