Department of Philosophy

Overview

Tutorials are small seminars of four to eight students taught by faculty or advanced graduate students. They are intended to provide an opportunity for intimate and sustained discussion of philosophical topics, and to give students an opportunity to receive close commentary on their written work. A variety of different tutorial topics is offered each semester.

Concentrators take three semester-long tutorials. (Joint concentrators need only take two; students taking a secondary in philosophy take only one.) The first is at an introductory level (it’s called the "sophomore" tutorial, though its members aren't always sophomores; this is the one tutorial you will take if you are a philosophy secondary); the two others are at a more advanced level ("junior" tutorials, whose members are almost always juniors).

Tutorials meet once a week for 1.5 to 2 hours: The sophomore tutorial is a normal half course, while the junior tutorials are "quarter courses", counting for half  the credit of a normal semester course. When two junior tutorials are completed, their grades are averaged, and the student receives one "half" course credit (as Harvard counts, that's credit for a semester course). Junior concentrators usually take four courses plus one (junior) tutorial one term, and three courses plus a tutorial the other, totaling eight semester courses, or four "full" courses, for the year.

At the beginning of each semester, descriptions of tutorials to be offered are made available in the Tutorial Office. Students then let the Office know their preferences, utilizing an ultra-high-tech system (index cards). The Office does the best it can to match tutorial assignments to students' interests.

Tutorials meet for the first time on the second Friday of the term. At these first meetings, the meeting time for the rest of the term is arranged. Following these first meetings, the Department holds a reception, usually in the Bechtel Room (Emerson 107).

Note that students (whether concentrators, joint concentrators, or secondaries) interested in taking a tutorial must sign up in the Tutorial Office by study card day; students who wait longer than this cannot be guaranteed a spot in a tutorial.