(a) Please join us at one of our Fall Advising Events: Thursday, September 13, 12 - 3 p.m. (Tercentenary Theater), Tuesday, October 16, 4 p.m. Ice Cream Social! (Barker Center 110)

(b) Attend a house dinner organized by Peer Advisors in History and Literature in October, where you can meet with current students and receive information and advice about the concentration. (Information on dates and locations will be posted in advance.)

(c) Feel free to contact one of our Peer Advisors with any questions.

(d) Students who are interested in the program can also make an appointment to talk about their course plans with the Director of Studies, the Assistant Director of Studies, or one of the Co-Chairs of the Committee on Instruction. Throughout the year, we hold office hours at the Barker Center, Mondays through Thursdays, 10-12 and 2-4. We also have special office hours the weeks of September 10^th and 17^th.

Each student applying for admission should submit the following:

(a) An application form (available in the History and Literature office and on our website). This form asks you to state your chosen field (see section IX of the Concentrator Handbook). If you are hesitating between choices, list them both. You do not finally commit yourself to a field until the end of your sophomore year. However, because you will enter a sophomore tutorial in the particular field that you choose during the application process, you should indicate the field you think you prefer.

(b) A sample of your academic writing (e.g., a paper from your expository writing class or another course). Don’t worry about whether it is interdisciplinary; choose the paper that best represents your writing ability.

Admission is based on three main criteria: academic record, desire to pursue interdisciplinary studies, and the availability of tutors in the various sub-fields.

Students interested in applying to History and Literature should consider taking one of the new HL90 courses or courses in the history and literature of the countries or regions they want to study, both to confirm their interest and test their abilities. However, previous course work is not a prerequisite for admission.

In addition to submitting the application form and a writing sample, prospective concentrators will have a brief interview conducted by two tutors who teach sophomore tutorial in your chosen field. The interview is designed to be informative (for you as well as for them) rather than intimidating. The interviewers will ask you why you want to concentrate in History and Literature. They will also want to know about any special interests you might have -- authors you enjoy, historical problems that intrigue you and, if you are applying to a field other than Britain or America, your command of (or plans to acquire command of) the relevant language or languages.

See Section IX of the Concentrator Handbook for an explanation and list of the fields.

In the main office and on the History and Literature website (here).

All students in History and Literature must receive an honors grade (B- or above) in a course that requires them to read foreign literature in the original language. This course, which counts as one of their fourteen concentration courses, must be completed by the end of their junior year.

History and Literature requires this course in the belief that studying literature written in another language can give valuable insights not only into other literary, cultural, and historical traditions, but also, by comparison, into one’s own. We want students to gain sufficient fluency to work meaningfully with primary texts in their foreign language. Many language courses do not fulfill this requirement; students must check the list of courses that fulfill the foreign literature requirement, which is available in the office and on the web (here).

Yes, but you must petition and submit the reading list. The course will remain as a “CR” on your record and won’t affect your concentration grade point average. Don't bother to do this unless you think you will need the credit.

Yes.

History and Literature grants credit for up to one year spent abroad, but it is important for students to make sure they can fulfill all of their requirements if they do go abroad. Juniors who plan to spend their second term abroad must make arrangements with their tutors and with the Assistant Director of Studies to complete their Junior Essays either in the fall or while they are abroad. They need to be completed by the assigned deadline in the spring. Students should make these arrangements before they leave. (See sections VII.G and XIII of the Concentrator Handbook.)

Note: Please be sure to start the petition process at the Office of International Programs (in University Hall) early in the term before you plan to go abroad.

Yes, but History and Literature must be your primary concentration and you must plan your course selection such that you fulfill all requirements of both concentrations (courses can double count). If you are interested in joint concentration, see the Director of Studies as soon as possible.

Students are welcome to pursue a secondary field in addition to their concentration in History and Literature. Students should keep in mind, however, that while some secondary fields are compatible with History and Literature, others are not. A secondary field in History of Art and Architecture, Visual and Environmental Studies, or Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, for example, might complement a student’s plan of study in History and Literature. For both practical and intellectual reasons, however, a secondary field in History or English and American Literature and Language is less suitable.

Students should carefully weigh the intellectual advantages of completing a secondary field. As an inherently interdisciplinary program, History and Literature provides students with the opportunity to design an individual course of study that draws on a number of different departments. In order to offer students the widest possible course selections, it is our practice to count for concentration credit many courses that might also be required for certain secondary fields. A student may only double count one course for both concentration credit and the secondary field. This means that it may be difficult to fulfill the requirements for a secondary field in an overlapping department. Students should be aware that the courses on the “courses that count” list will automatically be counted for concentration credit. Additionally, we are not able to “uncount” courses that a student has already taken for concentration credit if a student later decides that he or she would like to pursue a secondary field.

For information about particular secondary fields, students are encouraged to visit the secondary field website (http://www.secondaryfields.fas.harvard.edu/index.html) and to consult with the secondary field advisor in the department or program of their choice. While students may wish to discuss with their tutor how a particular secondary field relates to their plan of study, secondary fields are ultimately administered by the granting department or program.

Yes. History and Literature combines especially well with the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program (UTEP). Concentrators may be eligible to obtain certification to teach in middle or secondary schools in Massachusetts and the forty-four states with which Massachusetts has reciprocity. See the Handbook for Students for more information about the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program. Previous students in UTEP have found that the flexibility of being able to teach both history and literature is a considerable advantage.