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.

 

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 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 depart­mental 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. Go to the website.

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. Graduate students in their fourth or longer year of a GSAS PhD degree program are eligible for an extended loan period in the Harvard College Library.

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 from a library 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
Mon.–Thurs., 9:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Fri., 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
Sat., 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Sun., Noon–8:00 p.m.
(regular term hours)

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
Mon., Fri., Sat., 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Tues., Wed., Thurs., 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
Sun., closed

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, and the Hyde Collection of Samuel Johnson and his Circle, Printing and Graphic Arts, and the Harvard Theatre Collection, which has reading and exhibition rooms in the Pusey Library. The George Edward Woodberry Poetry Room (located in Lamont Library), which contains a collection of contemporary books and recordings, 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. or by appointment.

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 www.rlg.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 a scholarly community where individuals pursue advanced work across a wide range of academic disciplines, professions and creative arts. Within this broad purpose, the Institute sustains a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender and society. 

 

RADCLIFFE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Judith Vichniac, director
8 Garden Street, 617-495-8212

The Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program offers outstanding creative artists, humanists, scientists, and social scientists a yearlong residency to focus on individual projects and research while benefiting from an interdisciplinary community of fellows. Students are invited to meet Radcliffe fellows, attend weekly colloquia given by the fellows on their work, and attend all cultural events at the Institute, including art exhibi­tions and performances. Colloquia are usually presented on Wednesdays at 3:30 and are open to the public.

 

RADCLIFFE DISSERTATION COMPLETION FELLOWSHIPS
Cynthia Verba, director
Holyoke Center 350, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, 617-495-1814

The Radcliffe Institute has established three new Radcliffe Dissertation Completion Fellowships for graduate students, which are available to GSAS students in the human­ities and social sciences. These fellowships are different from other GSAS completion fellowships in that each recipient of the Radcliffe award will be affiliated with the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program and will interact with the community of approx­imately fifty fellows in residence. The fellowships offer the same benefits as the Graduate Society Dissertation Completion Fellowships: a stipend of $22,330, plus tuition and health fees for the year. GSAS runs the fellowship selection process for all awards. Recipients are announced in April prior to the fellowship year.

 

THE SCHLESINGER LIBRARY
Monday, Tuesday, Friday: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday: 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
10 Garden Street, 617-495-8647

The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America is administered and supported by The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and is the largest and best-known research library in its field. The library contains more than 89,000 volumes, 3,000 collections of personal, professional, and organizational papers, 90,000 photographs, and provides access to numerous scholarly journals, popular magazines, and newsletters, as well as oral histories and other historical materials. The library has collections of papers on women’s rights and suffrage, social welfare and reform, pioneers in the professions, and family history. A repository for organizations such as the National Organization for Women and the National Abortion Rights Action League, the library also houses the papers of notable women including Susan B. Anthony, Judy Chicago, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Amelia Earhart, Julia Child, Betty Friedan, and Holly Near. Interview transcripts from the Black Women’s Oral History Project, which interviewed black women community and professional leaders, and several other oral history projects are also housed at the library.

 

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 with the museum’s website providing extensive background about the collections and exhibitions. A Guide to Harvard Museums is available at the Holyoke Information Center.

 

Fogg Museum: 32 Quincy Street (closed for renovation)
Busch-Reisinger Museum: 32 Quincy Street (closed for renovation)
Arthur M. Sackler Museum: 485 Broadway
617-495-9400
Mon.–Sat., 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sun., 1:00–5:00 p.m.
National Holidays–closed

The Harvard Art Museum is one of the world’s leading arts institutions, comprising 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 Museum Archives, Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Turkey). The Harvard Art Museum is distin­guished by the range and depth of its collection, its groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of its staff. The collection consists of more than 260,000 objects in all media, ranges in date from antiquity to the present, and comes from Europe, North American, North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. As an integral part of Harvard and the community, the three art museums and four research centers serve as resources for students, scholars, and visitors. For more than a century, the Harvard Art Museum has been the nation’s premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and is renowned for its seminal role in the devel­opment of the discipline of art history in this country.

Students are invited to join as Student Members of the Harvard Art Museum. Student Members receive invitations to members-only events, the calendar of exhibitions and programs, and monthly e-mail newsletters, discounted tickets to lectures, seminars, and concerts, as well as a discount in the Art Museum’s shop and on Art Museum publica­tions. Student Members also enjoy special tours, an annual black-tie gala with the director, and other programs and special offers specifically for Members. Annual membership is $45.

The Harvard Art Museum Undergraduate Connection runs social events open to tall undergraduates that feature free food and entertainment, as well as tours led by members of the Student Guide Program. All events and projects associated with the Undergraduate Connection are free, educational, and student organized and run. New members are always welcomed for a fun experience based around art. For more infor­mation about joining, as well as details about upcoming events: visit the website; or email the organization’s president, Kaley Blackstock, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Students are invited to apply to become volunteer members of the Harvard Art Museum Student Guide Program. The Student Guide Program is a select group of students who work closely with the Education Department at the Art Museum. Guides are trained for several months and give tours and informal gallery talks for their peers, as well as for alumni and other members of the Harvard community. The Student Guide program is not limited to art history concentrators; in fact, student guides are encouraged to share the unique perspectives that their different concentrations bring to looking at art. For more information, please contact the Art Museum’s Education Department at 617-495-0765.

 

FOGG MUSEUM (closed for renovation)

The Fogg Museum, which opened to the public in 1895, is Harvard’s oldest art museum. Its collection consists of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, with particular strengths in Italian early Renaissance, British Pre-Raphaelite, and 19th­century French art, as well as 19th- and 20th-century American paintings. The Fogg’s Maurice Wertheim Collection is an important collection of impressionist and post­impressionist works and contains many famous modern masterworks, including paintings and sculpture by Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Matisse, Picasso, and van Gogh. Central to the Fogg Museum’s holdings is the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, a collection of more then 4,000 works of art. Bequeathed to Harvard in 1943, the collection continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the collections and legacy of the Harvard Art Museum, serving as a foundation for teaching, research, and professional training programs. The Winthrop Collection includes 19th-century masterpieces by Blake, Burne-Jones, David, Daumier, van Gogh, Homer, Ingres, Renoir, Rodin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Sargent, and Whistler, as well as early Chinese art, from archaic jades to bronze ritual vessels, weapons, mirrors, bells, ornamental fittings, and Buddhist sculptures in stone and gilt bronze.

 

BUSCH-REISINGER MUSEUM (closed for renovation)

The Busch-Reisinger Museum is the only museum in American devoted to promoting the arts of Central and Northern Europe, with a special emphasis on the German-speaking countries. Founded in 1901 as the Germanic Museum, the museum relocated to Adolphus Busch Hall in 1921 and then to Werner Otto Hall at 32 Quincy Street in 1991. The Busch-Reisinger Museum has particularly important holding of Austrian Secession art, German expressionism, 1920s abstraction, and material related to the Bauhaus. In addition, the Busch-Reisinger Museum has significant holdings of post-war and contemporary art from German-speaking Europe. The collection of unique and editioned artworks by artist Joseph Beuys is among the world’s most comprehensive.

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 organ pipe, used regularly for Harvard’s organ concert series. It is open to the public on the second Sunday of each month, from 1pm to 5pm. 

 

ARTHUR M. SACKLER MUSEUM

Designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning British architect James Stirling and opened in 1985, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum has holdings of ancient, Asian, Islamic, and later Indian art. Among its treasures are the world’s finest collections of archaic Chinese jades and Japanese surimono, as well as outstanding Chinese bronzes, ceremonial ancient weapons, and Buddhist cave-temple sculpture; Chinese and Korean ceramics; and Japanese woodblock prints, calligraphy, narrative paintings, and lacquer boxes. The Sackler Museum’s collection also contains exceptional holding of works on paper from Mongol, Timurid, and Safavid Iran (14th–17th centuries), Ottoman Turkey (15th–19th centuries), and Rajput and Mughal India. The ancient art department has one of America’s most important teaching collections of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern art, with significant holdings of Greek and Roman sculpture, Greek vases, and ancient coins.

In 2008, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum was reinstalled with works from Harvard Art Museum’s three museums—Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Sackler—for a unique exhibition entitled Re-View. The survey of approximately 600 objects includes major and familiar works and features Western art from antiquity to the turn of the 20th century, Islamic and Asian art, and European and American art from 1900 to the present. Re-View is on long-term view at the Sackler Museum and provides a selected, ongoing display of the Harvard Art Museum’s collection while its building at 32 Quincy Street is closed for renovation.

Wheelchair accessible.  

 

26 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138, 617-495-3045
Daily, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Closed New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day

 

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 170,000 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-year­old marine reptile; one of the first Triceratops ever described; and a 1,642 lb amethyst geode. New exhibitions include Climate Change: Our Global Experiment and Language of Color, an exploration of how different species perceive and display color.

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 to the Harvard Museum of Natural History is through basement entrance to the far left of the of the museum complex building on Oxford Street or through 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 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 mineral ogical and geological collections and archives, visit the website or call 617-495-4758.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is wheelchair accessible. 

 

PEABODY MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY
11 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138, 617-496-1027
Daily, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

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 e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Wheelchair access is through 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 617-495-3045 for access. 

 

THE SEMITIC MUSEUM  

6 Divinity Avenue, 617-495-4631
Mon.–Fri., 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Sun., 1:00–4:00 p.m.
Closed Saturday and Holiday Weekends

The Semitic Museum, founded in 1889, 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, which shares its building with Harvard’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Center for Jewish Studies, is dedicated to the use of these collections for the investigation and teaching of Near Eastern archaeology, history, and culture. Through the collaborative efforts of departmental faculty, curators, museum curatorial staff, and students, the Museum mounts educational exhibits, sometimes in conjunction with courses, that not only serve the needs of the University, but also attract the general public and promote greater understanding of the civilizations of the Near East and its great cultural legacy. The Semitic Museum sponsors archaeological excavations and surveys of complex societies of the Near East, with special emphasis on those ancient cultures related to the world of the Bible. The Harvard Semitic Monographs, Harvard Semitic Series, and Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant publishes archaeological, historical, philological, and cultural studies of the Near East, many of which present the research of the department faculty and their students. For information on exhibits, visit the website

 

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
Science Center, 1 Oxford Street
For hours and information, call 617-495-2779

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.

 

125 Arborway
Boston
617-524-1718

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. A specialized form of public garden, the Arboretum is a collection of woody plants arranged for scientific and educational study, research, and recreation.

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 an historic landmark and one of the best preserved of Olmsted’s landscapes. Through a collaborative agreement between Harvard University and the City of Boston, the Arboretum operates as a public park on city-owned land with a 1000-year lease. 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 herbaria, systematic collections of dried and mounted plants from all over the world, encompass some 4.8 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 and students; the Hunnewell Building library is also open to the general public.

The Arboretum is located next to the Jamaica Plain neighborhood in 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
465 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Information: 617-267-9300
Saturday–Tuesday, 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m.; Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–9:45 p.m.
Closed New Year's Day, Patriots' Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving,
and Christmas

Founded in 1870, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is open seven days a week and welcomes approximately one million visitors from around the globe each year. As one of the great art museums of the world, the MFA is recognized for the quality and scope of its encyclopedic collection, which includes an estimated 450,000 objects ranging from murals by John Singer Sargent, ancient Egyptian mummies, and Impressionist paintings by Renoir, Monet, and Degas, to African masks and sculpture, Japanese prints, and photography 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. The MFA offers exhibitions (listed on the website), tours, educational programs, lectures, films, and concerts, and features an extensive online collections database.

Students from area colleges participating in the University Members Program are admitted free with ID. General admission (which includes two visits in a 10-day period) is $17 for adults and $15 for seniors and students age 18 and older. Admission is free for children 17 years of age and younger during non-school hours. No general admission fee is required (after 4 p.m.) during Wednesday Nights at the MFA, under­written by the Citizens Bank Foundation, although voluntary donations are welcome. Gund Gallery exhibitions are ticketed events that require an additional fee.

The Museum is currently involved in a transformational Building Project, designed by architects Foster + Partners, London, that will result in an American Wing to house the Museum’s extensive Art of the Americas collection and the glass-enclosed Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard to serve as a gathering place for visitors and special events. The project also features increased space for Contemporary and Modern art, a new gallery for special exhibitions, and enhanced conservation and education facilities, as well as renovated galleries in the Art of Europe and Art of the Ancient World. It is expected to be complete in late 2010.

Wheelchair accessible.

 

OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR

Barry Kane, Registrar
Lynn Dunham, Deputy Registrar
20 Garden Street
General Information: 617-495-1543
Mon.–Fri., 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Graduate Records: 617-495-1519
Transcript Information: 617-495-1543
Accessible Education Office: 617-496-8707/V/TTY: 617-496-3720

See Chapter V, Registrar’s office.

 

BUREAU OF STUDY COUNSEL

Center for Academic and Personal Development
5 Linden Street, 617-495-2581
Abigail Lipson, PhD, director
Hours: Mon.–Fri., 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Summer Hours: Mon.–Fri., 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

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. Except where indicated below, there is no additional charge for services. Please visit our website or call the Bureau for additional information.

Harvard Course in Reading and Study Strategies: The Bureau of Study Counsel offers the Reading Course four times during the academic year, and once in the summer. This noncredit course runs for fourteen hour-long classes over 3–5 weeks. The course focuses on the development of speed and comprehension helpful in managing extensive academic material. There is no homework other than to apply the strategies learned in the class to one’s own work. The course is open to registered degree candidates in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for a $25 fee, and to others for $150 (subject to change).

Groups and Workshops: The Bureau offers groups and workshops on issues such as procrastination, time management, speaking up in class, developing successful relationships, assertiveness, and creativity. Of particular interest to graduate students are support groups for dissertation writers, Getting Started in Graduate School, and What Are You Doing With Your Life?

Academic Peer Tutoring and ESL Peer Consulting: Student-to-student tutoring is available for assistance with any subject, particularly mathematics, natural sciences, and foreign languages. Student-to-student consultation is available for assistance with conversational and cultural skills related to English as a Second Language (ESL). Most of the academic peer tutors at the Bureau are undergraduates who have done honors work in the subjects they tutor, although there are a few tutors who are graduate students. The ESL peer consultants are undergraduates with a strong interest in working with students from other cultures. Teaching fellows are encouraged to recommend students who they feel could benefit from academic peer tutoring or ESL peer consul­tation, or who they feel are qualified to serve as tutors/consultants. The fee for tutoring/ consultation is $14 per hour. GSAS will generally subsidize the cost of one non-intensive ESL course or its equivalent cost in individual ESL consulting. See the GSAS Student Affairs Office for a referral.

Counseling: The demanding academic and social environment of Harvard presents students with many challenges, including concerns about academic progress, life direction, maintaining healthy relationships, and managing both work and personal commitments. Counseling at the Bureau provides students with an opportunity to develop their academic skills and approaches and to address personal concerns that may be affecting their engagement in university life. Students who require psychotherapy or psychological assessment beyond the scope of the Bureau’s services are provided with assistance in connecting to appropriate on- and off-campus resources. Counseling at the Bureau is confidential, in keeping with applicable legal and professional standards. Please visit our website for details.

Consultation: Consultation is available for faculty, teaching fellows, advisors, residence staff, and administrators with regard to their work with specific students and, more broadly, with regard to the intellectual, ethical, and emotional development of students. Consultations address such issues as: resolving situations of conflict or dispute; recognizing and responding to students in distress; understanding what students might be experiencing; guiding students to the Bureau or other resources; and addressing one’s own concerns and limits in one’s role of helper. Teaching fellows and faculty may consult with the Bureau as they consider their students’ developmental pathways, cognitive styles, approaches to learning, or problems with academic motivation or performance. Consultation is confidential, in keeping with applicable legal and professional standards; similarly, students’ contacts with the Bureau are confidential and will not generally be shared with concerned third parties without the student’s permission. Please visit our website for details.

The first floor of the Bureau is wheelchair-accessible.

 

Academic Resources Part II  

 
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