Frequently Asked Questions

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 first-year students by allowing first-year to work closely with one faculty member on a topic of mutual interest. The seminar format frees both instructor and students from the usual constraints of a lecture course, such as exams and letter grades.

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.

First-Year Seminars meet once a week for 2-3 hours.

Ladder and tenured FAS faculty may not schedule a course meeting on Tuesday afternoons between 3:00-5:00 PM, the time designated for faculty meetings.

Seminars may meet in department rooms by agreement or our office will request a room from the Harvard Classrooms Office.

When choosing a meeting time: officially seminars must begin on the hour (or may start 45 mins past the hour) and must finish by 15 minutes before the start of the next time block for transferring between classes.

For example, a seminar could be scheduled at 12:00-2:00 for only a 2-hour meeting time within the 12:00-2:45 time slot, but a class may meet longer than 2 hours within the time block.

Instructors may arrange with students for a compatible meeting time within the time block.

9:00-11:45 or if you prefer to start a bit later, 9:45-11:45
12:00-2:45 or 12:45-2:45
3:00-5:45 or 3:45-5:45
6:00-8:45

A First-Year Seminar is ordinarily part of the annual 1.0 FTE limit of FAS instructors. This 1.0 FTE limit does not apply to non-FAS Faculty, who receive compensation for their seminar. Please contact Toni Trainor at 617-496-3993 or firstyearseminarprogram@fas.harvard.edu for information on compensation rate.

Visit the Propose a Seminar section of our website for more information and submission deadlines. Committee meetings are held during the spring term to review proposals for the following academic year.

The Committee prefers to review one proposal from each instructor and provide useful feedback.

The Faculty of the Committee on First-Year Seminars meets throughout the spring to review all proposals. 

All first-years may apply to as many seminars as they wish, although they may enroll in only one seminar per semester. Students may apply to both Fall and Spring Seminars over the summer, and Seminar placements are ultimately done by a matching algorithm that is run after all applications have been submitted.

Different factors influence the algorithm’s outcome: instructors can select or deny students based on their statements of interest and other relevant information; and student rankings and preferences are also taken into consideration.

No. All seminars with openings are posted on our website after the algorithm is run, and we encourage students to email you directly for placement in your seminar if your seminar has openings. You may accept or decline additional students at your discretion until the Seminar is filled to capacity.

Please review Responding to Petitions, for instructions about the process. You will need to approve the enrollment online in the My.Harvard.edu system for each student you have accepted. Students who have already been accepted by you through our application system will be enrolled automatically by the registrar. You need only approve those students that you add to your class after our initial application period, or if you teach in the Spring as part of the prior-term registration occurring in the Fall. Your official class roster will be posted by the registrar on your seminar Canvas website.

An instructor is limited to teaching one First-Year Seminar per academic year.

Some seminars, because of their specialized nature, require particular qualifications or appropriate academic background, and this fact should be specified in the course description. However, most instructors set no prerequisites other than an interest in the subject. 

No, a First-Year Seminar is a small, limited enrollment course that may not be audited.

Because the instructor plays an important mentoring role in small-group instruction, a First-Year seminar is not provided with additional teaching staff. However, seminars with significant hours of science lab or studio art may request the hire of an Undergraduate Course Assistant or a Graduate Teaching Fellow to assist with course preparation. Please contact Toni Trainor at 617-496-3993 or firstyearseminarprogram@fas.harvard.edu for advice on your request.

Classes may not be held during Reading Period unless the make-up class is due to weather or other emergencies. But Sections and review sessions may take place during Reading Period as long as there is no new material presented.

All assignments must be scheduled with due dates prior to the start of the Final Examination period. Final papers, take-home exams, projects, presentations, and other culminating course assignments may be due after the end of regular classes on or before the day of each seminar’s assigned Exam/Final Deadline Group. This date can be found in the seminar listing in the online My.Harvard course catalog.

Final projects that include individual or group presentations may be scheduled only after the fourth day of Reading Period and may extend through the Final Examination Period, but the project deadline must be the day of the seminar’s assigned Exam/Final Deadline Group. Beyond this date, the student must petition the Administrative Board of Harvard College.

Absolutely. Please feel free to contact our Director, Dr. Ofrit Liviatan (oliviatan@gov.harvard.edu) with any queries. 

The Bok Center for Teaching and Learning also offers opportunities for current and prospective instructors to learn more about teaching in the First-Year Seminar Program. 

A First-Year Seminar is always graded SAT/UNS. It may not be audited. A  “Satisfactory” grade includes letter grades from A to C-. “Unsatisfactory” grade represents work below C- and is considered a failing grade. Students who neglect the work of the seminar or who do not perform satisfactorily will be excluded from the seminar and/or denied credit. We also ask that you submit midterm grades when you receive a prompt to do so from the Registrar’s Office, about six weeks into the term. The final grade sheet is always due via the online grading portal on the date specified by the FAS Registrar for courses without final examinations. Please consult the FAS Faculty Handbook for more information.

We invite all instructors to participate in FAS Course Evaluations regardless of class size, including seminars with enrollments of five or fewer students.

The Textbook Department of the Harvard Coop contacts each instructor prior to the start of term in order to coordinate textbook orders. You may contact the Textbook Manager at 617-499-2223 or textbooks@thecoop.com

Requests for reserves should be done through the Canvas course website. 

Lamont Library is the undergraduate library where books for seminars may be put on reserve. Harvard College Library Research Services also provides customized library classes and/or web-based library research guides developed in collaboration with First-Year Seminar faculty. Please contact Sarah DeMott, Research Librarian, Harvard College Library (sarah_demott@harvard.edu or 617-496-4226) with any questions about library services for First-Year Seminars.

If faculty have any copyright questions in relation to their First-Year Seminar, there is a program in the library especially designed to help with those questions: the Copyright First Responders. Emily Bell, Research Librarian in Lamont Library, can be reached through emilybell@fas.harvard.edu or phone, 617-496-9988. The Copyright First Responders have received in-depth training to be able to answer exactly these kind of questions.

We offer up to $500 for all course-related expenses, including classroom supplies, field trips, and guest speakers. We regret that additional funding for special expenses is very limited.