Harvard College
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Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, having been founded in 1636. The College is instructed by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which also instructs the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In accordance with the American norm, the College remains the heart of the University, and people often confuse the two; therefore, see Harvard University for more information relevant to life, academics, etc. at Harvard College.
History
The name Harvard College dates to 1638. In that year, the two-year-old school, which had yet to graduate its first students, was named in honor of the recently deceased John Harvard, a minister from nearby Charlestown, who in his will had bequeathed to it his library and a sum of money. In the understanding of its members at the time, the name "Harvard College" probably referred to the first (as they foresaw it) of a number of colleges which would someday make up a university along the lines of Oxford or Cambridge. The American usage of the word college had not yet developed: to the founders of Harvard, a college was an association of teachers and scholars for education, room, and board. Only a university could examine for and grant degrees; nonetheless, unhampered by this technicality, Harvard graduated its first students in 1642.
But no further colleges were founded beside it; and as Harvard began to grant higher degrees in the late eighteenth century, people started to call it "Harvard University." "Harvard College" survived, nonetheless; in accordance with the newly-emerging American usage of the words, it was the undergraduate division of the university—which was not a collection of similar colleges, but a collection of unique schools, each teaching a different subject.
Harvard's principal governing board (which happens to be the oldest continuous corporation in the western hemisphere) still goes by its original name of "The President and Fellows of Harvard College" even though it has charge of the entire university and the "fellows" today are simply external trustees such as those who govern most American educational bodies—not residential educators like the fellows of an Oxbridge college. In current Harvard parlance, this governing board is frequently referred to simply as The Harvard Corporation.
Harvard College is considered to be one of the top undergraduate colleges in the United States, and admission to it is highly desired. For the class of 2010, the College admitted 2,109 students out of 22,753 applicants for an overall admit rate of 9.3%. Many traditions around the College exist, including the superstitious belief that a person who touches the foot of the John Harvard statue during his campus visit is likely to be granted admission. Tour guides estimate that more than a thousand high school students touch the statue each year, the most popular location being the right foot. A few enterprising students kiss the statue, but this is generally not recommended since a popular undergraduate game is to urinate on that foot while drunk.
House system
Nearly all students at Harvard College live on campus. First-year students live in dormitories in or near Harvard Yard (see List of Harvard dormitories). Upperclass students live mainly in a system of twelve residential "Houses", which serve as administrative units of the College as well as dormitories. Each house is presided over by a "Master"—a senior faculty member who is responsible for guiding the social life and community of the House—and a "Senior Tutor", who acts as dean of the students in the House in its administrative role.
The House system was instituted by Harvard president Abbott Lawrence Lowell in the 1930s, although the number of Houses, their demographics, and the methods by which students are assigned to particular Houses have all changed drastically since the founding of the system. Funds for the Houses were donated by Edward Harkness, a Yale graduate, who had previously failed to persuade Yale of its merits (but which later adopted a very similar "college" system). Lowell modeled it on the system of constituent colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and the Houses borrow terminology from Oxford and Cambridge such as Junior Common Room (the set of undergraduates affiliated with a House) and Senior Common Room (the Master, Senior Tutor, and other faculty members, advisors, and graduate students associated with the House). Non-faculty members of the Senior Common Room of a House are given the title "Tutor".
Nine of the Houses are situated south of Harvard Yard, near the busy commercial district of Harvard Square, along or close to the northern banks of the Charles River, and so are known colloquially as the River Houses. These are:
- Adams House, named for several alumni of that name, including U. S. President John Adams;
- Dunster House, named for Harvard's first President, Henry Dunster;
- Eliot House, named for Harvard President Charles William Eliot;
- Kirkland House, named for Harvard President John Thornton Kirkland;
- Leverett House, named for Harvard President John Leverett;
- Lowell House, said to be named for the Harvard-affiliated Lowell family in general (but the most obvious reference is to Abbott Lawrence Lowell);
- Mather House, named for Harvard President Increase Mather;
- Quincy House, named for Harvard President (and sometime mayor of Boston) Josiah Quincy III;
- Winthrop House, more officially called John Winthrop House, named for two famous men of that name: Massachusetts Bay Colony founder John Winthrop and his great-great-great-grandson John Winthrop, 2nd Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy
- Cabot House, previously called South House, renamed in 1983 for Harvard donors Thomas Dudley Cabot and Virginia Cabot;
- Currier House, named for Radcliffe alumna Audrey Bruce Currier;
- Pforzheimer House, often called PfoHo for short, previously called North House, renamed in 1995 for Harvard donors Carl and Carol Pforzheimer
Tentative plans have been proposed for expanding the House system using land owned by Harvard in Allston, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from the River Houses. Suggestions include moving the Quadrangle Houses to Allston and building up to eight new Houses there. It has not yet been decided whether any of these proposals will be adopted.
Harvard's residential houses are paired with Yale's residential colleges in sister relationships; see the Harvard-Yale sister colleges article for more information.
Core Curriculum
Harvard requires all undergraduates to fulfill "the core," which requires students to take courses in seven of eleven academic areas (such as Moral Reasoning and Social Analysis); each concentration exempts students from four. In 2006, Harvard announced it would change this policy, making the academic areas broader, although as of this writing it is unclear how and when the system will change.Concentrations
Majors at Harvard College are known as concentrations. As of 2005, Harvard College offered 41 different concentrations:
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Joint concentrations with a primary and secondary departmental focus are allowed by many departments provided the student can demonstrate how he/she intends to combine the subjects meaningfully. In April 2006, as part of a curricular review plan for College students, a Harvard faculty meeting approved for the first time the institution of secondary concentrations, known as minors at most other schools.
Other special concentrations include the Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative, a certification program in Neurosciences run jointly by the departments of Anthropology, Biochemical Sciences, Biology, Computer Science, History of Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology. In 2005, Harvard College and the New England Conservatory will begin offering a joint 5-year program for a combined Harvard Bachelor's degree and NEC Master of Arts.
Organizations
Harvard has hundreds of student organizations. Every spring there is an "Arts First week", founded by John Lithgow during which arts and culture organizations show off performances, cook meals, or present other work; in 2005 over 40% of students participated in at least one Arts First event. Notable organizations include the daily newspaper The Harvard Crimson, the humor magazine the Harvard Lampoon, the a'cappella groups the Harvard Din & Tonics and the Krokodiloes, the service group Phillips Brooks House, and the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations.Media and campus publications
- The Harvard Crimson is United States' second oldest daily college newspaper and is doordropped to student rooms.
- The Harvard Advocate is the oldest continuously published college literary magazine. Famous past members include T.S. Eliot and Theodore Roosevelt. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was once Business Manager.
- The Harvard Lampoon, an undergraduate humor organization and publication founded in 1876 and rival to the Harvard Crimson. The magazine was originally modelled on the former British satirical periodical Punch, and has outlived it to become the world's oldest humor magazine. Conan O'Brien was president of the Lampoon. The National Lampoon was founded as an offshoot in 1970 from the Harvard Lampoon.
- The Harvard Independent, an alternative weekly with news, sports, and features.
- Radio station WHRB (95.3FM Cambridge), is run exclusively by Harvard students, and is given space on the Harvard campus in the basement of Pennypacker Hall, a freshman dorm. Known throughout the Boston metropolitan area for its classical, jazz, underground rock, blues, and more recently hip-hop programming, WHRB uses the radio "Orgy" format, where the entire catalog of a certain band, record, or artist is played in sequence.
- The Harvard Political Review, a quarterly undergraduate publication of U.S. and international politics founded in 1969 by Al Gore.
- The Harvard International Review, a quarterly journal on international relations and features contributions from political figures and academics, such as Bill Clinton, Jeffrey Sachs, and the Dalai Lama. The magazine is distributed in over 50 nations and across the US.
- Harvard College Tuesday Magazine, the general interest quaterly of Harvard college.
Community service organizations
- [The Phillips Brooks House Association] is an umbrella community service organization operating in Phillips Brooks House of Harvard Yard, consists of 77 program committees and over 1,800 student volunteers, and serves close to 10,000 clients in the Cambridge and Boston area.
Political organizations
- The [Harvard College Democrats], the largest partisan political group on campus.
- The [Harvard Republican Club], rival to the College Dems and the oldest political group, founded in 1888.
- The [Institute of Politics], housed in Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and features keynotes daily, student study groups with political activists and leaders, and a center of nonpartisan political community at Harvard.
- The [Harvard Chapter] of the Roosevelt Institution, a student think tank.
- Harvard Model Congress, the nation's oldest and largest congressional simulation conference, provides thousands of high school students from across the U.S. and abroad with the opportunity to experience American government first-hand.
- The [Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations], the campus's major student group focusing on Asian politics and business.
Musical groups
A cappella groups
- Harvard Din & Tonics, an all-male a capella group founded in 1979
- Krokodiloes, an all-male a cappella group, Harvard's oldest
- [Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones], mixed vocal, both male and female
- [Harvard Callbacks], mixed vocal, both male and female
- [Harvard Opportunes], mixed vocal, both male and female
- [Radcliffe Pitches], all-female
- [Fallen Angels], all-female
Choral groups
- [Harvard University Choir], the oldest university choir in the nation, formally established in 1834 but in existence since the eighteenth century, performs the oldest Christmas Carol Services in continuous existence in North America.
- Harvard Glee Club, the oldest college chorus in America, founded in 1858.
- Radcliffe Choral Society, founded in 1898, an all-women chorus.
- The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum is a select mixed-voice choir formed in 1971 when Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges merged.
- The Harvard Radcliffe Chorus is the largest mixed choir at Harvard University and has a diverse membership consisting of faculty members, staff, community members, and both undergraduate and graduate students. HRC was founded in 1979 and continues to perform twice a year as of 2005.
- [The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College], with an emphasis on African folk songs, Traditional and Contemporary gospel, Master Choral Works, and original compositions
Orchestras and bands
- Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra, founded in 1808.
- [Harvard Bach Society Orchestra], founded in 1898 as "The Musical Club of Harvard Universtiy", is Harvard's chamber orchestra.
- [Harvard University Band], which plays at football games.
- [Harvard Pops Orchestra], known for their fun performances and innovative repetoire
- [Harvard Mozart Society Orchestra], founded in 1984 and performs often with Robert Levin
Theater and Dance
- [The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club] is an organization that connects smaller campus theater groups and supports all campus productions. The HRDC directly oversees productions within the Loeb Theater, which it shares with the nationally acclaimed American Repertory Theatre. The HRDC also organizes seminars and workshops to connect students with professionals in the field. They will be sponsoring the production of Chicago: The Musical in the spring, the first amateur production of the show in 10 years.
- Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known informally simply as The Pudding, is a theatrical student society at Harvard University, known for its burlesque musicals. They present original student-written and -composed musicals with near-professional production values. Formed in 1795 as a fraternity, the Pudding has performed a production every year since 1891, except during World Wars I and II. Each production is entirely student-written. Although the cast remains all-male (with female parts performed by actors in drag), women participate in the productions as members of the business staff, orchestra, and tech crew.
- [The Harvard Gilbert and Sullivan Players], founded in 1956 is an independent, nonprofit student theater group, dedicated to performing comic opera.
- [The Immediate Gratification Players (IGP)] and [On Thin Ice (OTI)], Harvard's two undergraduate improv troupes, are among the oldest collegiate Improvisational comedy groups in the nation. Unlike many college troupes, both groups' constitutions require they present all campus shows free of charge.
- Harvard blackC.A.S.T. (Community and Student Theater) is Harvard's theater group dedicated to black theatrical production and fostering a black theater community on campus. Past productions include Amen Corner, Before it Hits Home, and The Colored Museum.
- The Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company
- The Harvard Ballet Company
- The Harvard Ballet Folklórico de Aztlán
- The Harvard Pan-African Dance and Music Ensemble is dedicated to raising awareness of the depth and diversity of African expressive culture through the performance of dance and music from all over the continent.
Academic Organizations
- [Harvard College Stem Cell Society] A student group dedicated to raising awareness about the ethics, politics, and science of stem cell research.
- [Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe]
| Schools of Harvard University |
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| Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences>Faculty of Arts and Sciences: College • Graduate School of Arts and Sciences • Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences • Continuing Education |
| Faculty of Medicine: Harvard Medical School>Medical School • School of Dental Medicine |
| Harvard Divinity School>Divinity School • Law School • Business School • Graduate School of Design |
| Harvard Graduate School of Education>Graduate School of Education • School of Public Health • Kennedy School of Government |
| Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (successor to Radcliffe College) |
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