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Submission deadlines during Spring 2026
for our monthly Faculty Committee Proposal Reviews:
Friday at 12 Noon: January 23, March 27, April 10
What is a First -Year Seminar?
A First-Year Seminar is a small-group, discussion-based course open to first-year students only. It is designed to intensify the intellectual experience of a student’s first year of college year by allowing students to work closely with one faculty member on a topic of mutual interest. The seminar format frees both instructors and students from the usual constraints of a lecture course, such as exams and letter grades.
Who is Eligible to Teach a Seminar?
All First-Year Seminar instructors must hold an active Harvard University teaching appointment. Instructors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences must hold a teaching appointment at the rank of Lecturer or above. Faculty from other Harvard schools must hold an appointment of Assistant Professor or above, including Clinical Professor. Emeriti Faculty and FAS Visiting Professors are also eligible to teach seminars. At this time, Preceptors, Post-Doctoral Fellows, Visiting Fellows, Adjunct Faculty, and other research (non-teaching) appointments or supervised (non-faculty) appointments are not eligible.
How to Submit a Proposal
- Download and complete the proposal form below.
- If you are Non-FAS faculty, an FAS lecturer, or a visiting professor, please also download and complete the CV template. Please limit your CV to 5 pages. If your appointment is pending, please provide details on your expected date of appointment and your current status at Harvard.
- Prepare a detailed syllabus. Please note, there are resources below for guidance on preparing your syllabus.
- Return the proposal form, syllabus, and CV (if applicable) to firstyearseminarprogram@fas.harvard.edu before the deadlines outlined above.
If you have any questions, please contact our Director, Dr. Ofrit Liviatan at oliviatan@gov.harvard.edu.
Teaching Strategies from FYSP Faculty
Syllabi
Please include the following on your syllabus:
- Academic Integrity-Honor Code Statements – Examples
- Including a clear statement on the scholarly standards in your field, your collaboration policy, and your late-assignment/extension policy will go a long way to avoiding issues later.
- Disability Access Statement
- Harvard University values inclusive excellence and providing equal educational opportunities for all students. Our goal is to remove barriers for disabled students related to inaccessible elements of instruction or design in this course. If reasonable accommodations are necessary to provide access, please contact the Disability Access Office (DAO). Accommodations do not alter fundamental requirements of the course and are not retroactive. Students should request accommodations as early as possible, since they may take time to implement. Students should notify DAO at any time during the semester if adjustments to their communicated accommodation plan are needed.
- Generative AI Policy
- Seminar instructors are encouraged to include a policy on course syllabi outlining acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI. FAS-AI Guidance — OUE Guidance—Bok Center AI Guidance
Sample Syllabi
Humanities
- Carolyn Abbate, Music and Film
- Karen Thornber, Stories of Gender and Justice
- Jay Harris, Who Do You Think You Are: The Ethics of Identity
- Peter Der Manuelian, Digging Egypt’s the Past: Harvard and Egyptian Archaeology
Natural Sciences
- Miaki Ishii, GeoSciFi Movies: Real vs. Fiction
- Cumrun Vafa, Physics, Math, and Puzzles
- Sien Verschave, Daniel Kahne, Venkatesh Murthy, Katie Quast, Learning How to Think Like a Scientist
Social Sciences
- David Armitage, Declarations of Independence: The Political Philosophy of the American Revolution
- William Fash, Clash of Titans, Seats of Empire: The Aztecs, Toltecs, and Race of Giants in Ancient Mexico
- Benjamin Friedman, Americans at Work in the Age of Robots and Artificial Intelligence
- Peter Galison, Einstein Changes Our World
Bok Center Guidance for Faculty Teaching First-Year Seminars
Designing your syllabus, best practices, tips & strategies from FAS & OUE.
For additional guidance on designing your First-Year Seminar, please contact our Director, Dr. Ofrit Liviatan at oliviatan@gov.harvard.edu.
Teaching Resources
- Tips for Teaching First-Year Seminars
- Getting First-Year Students to Speak Up in Seminars
- Writing Guide for the First-Year Seminar Program
- Designing Essay Assignments for First-Year Students
- Learning Lab at the Bok Center
- Teaching at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
- FAS Disability Access Office: Guide to Managing Academic Accommodations and Requests 2023-2024
- Bok Center for Teaching and Learning: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Writing Assignments
Academic Technology
- ATG Help Sessions Calendar
- Canvas Guide
- HUIT Tools and Supported Technologies
- Tech Liaison for the First Year Seminar Program
Kevin Guiney, Senior Instructional Technologist, Academic Technology Group 617-495-1059 or guiney@fas.harvard.edu.
Funding
- Concur Instructions for First-Year Seminar-related expenses:
- Faculty should submit receipts (out-of-pocket or corporate card) for any expenses to the Concur system within 60 days after incurring expense to allow time for processing. First-Year Seminar-related expenses will be routed to the First-Year Seminar Program for final review and approval. To obtain information about correct coding, please email use at firstyearseminarprogram@fas.harvard.edu.
- Additional project funding and opportunities for seminars:
- Harvard Office of the Arts: offers funding resources for faculty
- Library Assistance
- Harvard Office of the Arts: offers funding resources for faculty
- Trip Waiver Form for Students:
- This form should be signed & returned to the First-Year Seminar Program. Please note: if a student is under 18, a parent must sign & return form by mail or fax, 617-496-3262.
Library Assistance
- Our library liaison, Sarah Demott, is able to assist you with library resources, books, video materials, etc. Contact her via email at sarah_demott@harvard.edu
- On copyright-related questions see Copyright First Responders
Harvard Museums
- The Art Study Center of the Harvard Art Museums has beautiful classrooms and galleries that may be reserved for class meetings that incorporate art-viewing.
- For assistance locating relevant artwork for your seminar, contact Laura Muir, Research Curator of the Division of Academic and Public Programs at 617‐384‐9077 or laura_muir@harvard.edu.
- To reserve a museum classroom, contact Mary Lister, Art Study Center Manager at 617-384-9424 or mary_lister@harvard.edu. Note that there is a high demand for the museum classrooms.
- Teaching and Learning Through Museum Collections
- Harvard Museums of Science and Culture – Information for Faculty