Prospective Faculty

Most for-credit courses in the Harvard Summer School are seven weeks in length. Four-credit courses ordinarily meet twice weekly for three hours, during the day or in the evening. Eight-credit courses meet at least three hours a day, four days a week. Additional section or lab time may be arranged as required. The final week of the session is primarily reserved for final exams, projects, and final presentations.

Courses range from large introductory courses to small seminars, and they represent the breadth of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences curriculum. A number of our instructors teach their courses with an online option, or wholly online through web conferencing technologies.

Many of our seven-week courses are approved through FAS departments to receive Harvard College credit. Students consist of college students, adult learners, Extension school students, and high school students in the Secondary School Program.

Harvard ladder faculty are typically paid the equivalent of one-ninth their academic-year salaries for each four units they teach (except when their courses are replaying recorded content). Instructors in full-time administrative positions at Harvard, lecturers or preceptors at Harvard, and faculty visiting from other institutions are paid on a different scale; faculty may send inquiries about salary to Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs Lisa Klein Pearo at lkpearo@fas.harvard.edu.

To initiate a course proposal, please send a brief course description, draft syllabus, and c.v. to  DCE_AcademicAffairs@fas.harvard.edu by September 11, 2023.

• Session I: June 24 – July 11
• Session II: July 15 – August 1

The Summer School offers a limited number of intensive three-week courses. Three-week courses are intended for adult learners, Extension School degree candidates, and visiting college students. (Secondary school students may not enroll in three-week courses, and Harvard students may not take three-week courses for Harvard College credit.)

Courses meet Monday through Thursday for three hours each day. Final exams are taken on the last day of the session. Courses are offered in Extension School degree program areas such as management, journalism, sustainability, museum studies, as well as select disciplines offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Not every course is suited for an intensive three-week session. It is important for instructors to think carefully about whether their course content and assignments could be adapted to the format of a three-week course.

Harvard ladder faculty are typically paid the equivalent of one-ninth their academic-year salaries for each four units they teach (except when their courses are replaying recorded content). Instructors in full-time administrative positions at Harvard, lecturers or preceptors at Harvard, and faculty visiting from other institutions are paid on a different scale; faculty may send inquiries about salary to Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs Lisa Klein Pearo at lkpearo@fas.harvard.edu.

To initiate a course proposal, please send a course description, draft syllabus, and c.v. to DCE_AcademicAffairs@fas.harvard.edu by September 11, 2023.

• Session I: June 24 – July 5
• Session II: July 8 – July 19
• Session III: July 22 – August 2

The Pre-College Program is a highly selective program for high school students entering their junior and senior years of high school. This noncredit program offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a rigorous, academic learning experience in a collaborative and supportive environment.

Students attend courses each day for three hours, and additionally attend co-curricular activities that may include trips to local colleges, presentations on topics such as leadership and productive debate, and excursions to local New England sites.

Although the focus of this program is on the academic experience and not assessment, instructors may choose to require projects, papers and other assignments to help evaluate the student. Faculty members assign a grade of AR (meets all requirements) or NM (does not meet all requirements) to each student as well as a formal written evaluation.

The instructors for the Pre-College Program are primarily Harvard affiliates; advanced graduate students and lecturers are welcome to apply. Instructors are all paid $6,500 a course. To initiate a course proposal, please send a course description, draft syllabus and c.v. to Pre-College Program Director Jacqueline Newcomb at precollegestaff@fas.harvard.edu by September 11, 2023.