Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Harvard)
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| Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Harvard) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Faculty of Arts and Sciences |
| Established | 1890s |
| Type | Faculty |
| Parent | Harvard University |
| City | Cambridge |
| State | Massachusetts |
| Country | United States |
Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Harvard) is the principal academic division of Harvard University responsible for undergraduate liberal arts education and many graduate programs, encompassing diverse departments and research institutes. It administers instruction, research, and residential life across central Harvard campuses and collaborates with other Harvard faculties and external partners. The faculty's scope spans humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and computational disciplines, shaping academic policy and resource allocation at Harvard.
History
The faculty traces institutional roots to early curricular reforms at Harvard College during the 19th century and formal consolidation amid Progressive Era reorganizations, responding to models like Johns Hopkins University and reformers such as Charles W. Eliot, Andrew Carnegie, and trustees influenced by the Gilded Age. Expansion of graduate instruction aligned with national trends exemplified by the establishment of doctoral programs mirrored at Columbia University and Yale University, while wartime mobilizations during World War I and World War II affected faculty composition and research priorities. Postwar growth reflected federal initiatives like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, leading to the creation of new departments and interdisciplinary centers akin to innovations at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
Organization and Administration
Governance is structured under a dean and associate deans reporting to the central provost and the President of Harvard University, with committees for tenure, curriculum, and budget modeled on shared governance practices found at Princeton University and University of Chicago. The faculty oversees constituent divisions, including the Division of Humanities, Division of Social Science, Division of Natural Science, and Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, coordinating with units such as the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard College, and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Administrative oversight engages offices like the Office of the Registrar, Office of Financial Aid, and Faculty Affairs, interacting with external funders including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and federal agencies.
Academic Programs
Degree offerings include the Bachelor of Arts administered through Harvard College, the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy via the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and joint degrees with professional schools such as Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Medical School. Curricula encompass departmental majors and interdisciplinary concentrations featuring programs linked to centers like the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Center for European Studies, and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, while general education requirements reflect influences from the Great Books tradition and reforms comparable to those at Amherst College and Williams College. Cross-registration and exchange arrangements extend to institutions including MIT and international partners such as University of Oxford and Université Paris-Sorbonne.
Faculty and Research
The faculty comprises tenured professors, tenure-track faculty, lecturers, and affiliated researchers, many of whom hold honors like the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society. Research spans labs, centers, and institutes such as the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, producing scholarship interacting with venues like the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, and The American Historical Review. Collaborative projects have partnered with entities such as DARPA, the World Bank, and the United Nations on applied and theoretical work in fields paralleling efforts at Berkeley and Columbia.
Student Body and Admissions
The undergraduate population within the faculty is largely composed of Harvard College students living in residential houses such as Adams House, Cabot House, and Winthrop House, while graduate students enroll through the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and affiliate with laboratories and institutes. Admissions are coordinated with centralized processes reflecting standards comparable to selective institutions like Princeton University and Yale University, involving holistic review and financial aid policies that cite models from the Ivy League. Student organizations, college government, and extracurriculars connect to groups like the Harvard Crimson, the Harvard Lampoon, and the Harvard Model United Nations.
Facilities and Resources
Academic and research facilities include historic buildings on the Cambridge campus such as Lowell House, science complexes like the Science Center, and libraries within the Harvard Library system, notably the Widener Library and specialized collections at the Harvard Law School Library and the Countway Library of Medicine. Computation and data infrastructure collaborates with centers like the Institute for Quantitative Social Science and connects to high-performance computing resources and consortia such as the HathiTrust and the Open Science Grid. Museums and cultural resources affiliated with the faculty include the Harvard Art Museums and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Notable Alumni and Faculty Contributions
Alumni and faculty have played leading roles in public life, scholarship, and innovation, including figures associated with the Supreme Court of the United States, multiple U.S. presidential elections, Nobel laureates in chemistry and economics, and cultural contributors awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the MacArthur Fellowship. Scholarly contributions have reshaped fields through works cited alongside classics like publications from Cambridge University Press and theories advanced in journals such as Science and The Journal of American History, with alumni serving at institutions including United States Department of State, World Health Organization, Goldman Sachs, and technology firms like Google and Microsoft.