INTRODUCTION TO THE

CORE CURRICULUM

The purpose of this guide is to inform members of the

Freshman class about Harvard’s Core Curriculum. It explains
the aims and design of the program, offers some practical
advice on how to meet the requirement, and lists the Core
requirement for each field of concentration.

The Core Curriculum for undergraduate education at

Harvard is both a requirement and a philosophy. The
requirement can be simply stated. Undergraduates must devote
almost a quarter of their studies to courses in the following
areas of the program: Foreign Cultures, Historical Study,
Literature and Arts, Moral Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning,
Science, and Social Analysis.

The philosophy of the Core rests on the conviction that

every Harvard graduate should be broadly educated, as well as
trained in a particular academic specialty. It assumes that
students need some guidance in achieving this goal, and that
the faculty has an obligation to direct them toward the
knowledge, intellectual skills, and habits of thought that are the
distinguishing traits of what Harvard commencement
ceremonies call “the company of educated men and women.”

But the Core differs from other programs of general

education. It does not define intellectual breadth as the mastery
of a set of Great Books, or the digestion of a specific quantum
of information, or the surveying of current knowledge in
certain fields. Rather, the program seeks to introduce students
to the major approaches to knowledge in areas that the faculty
considers indispensable to undergraduate education. It aims to
show what kinds of knowledge and what forms of inquiry exist

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in these areas, how different means of analysis are acquired,
how they are used, and what their value is.

The development of the Core Curriculum proceeded

with the following assumptions in mind:

(1) Students should acquire some understanding of

the ways in which they can gain and apply knowledge
of the natural world, of society, and of themselves.

(2) Students should be exposed to other cultures

and other periods so that they can better define and
comprehend their own experiences in the modern
world.

(3) The curriculum should give students some

practice in thinking critically about moral and ethical
problems, examining their own moral assumptions, and
judging with some objectivity the assumptions of
various alternative traditions of ethical thought and
practice.

(4) The critical discernment necessary to

understand and assess the route to knowledge within
any area may be developed through the study of any
one of a number of its topics. Experience suggests that
students best absorb the necessary tools in courses that
introduce them to a manageable quantity of knowledge.
Their curiosity is most likely to be stimulated by
solving some interesting problems in a particular field,
using the tools that experts use, and doing so under
expert guidance.

(5) The analytic talents developed by solving

problems in different fields will have a lasting value in
equipping students to pursue additional knowledge in
fields that they may need or wish to explore in later life.

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 Before a course can be approved for the Core
Curriculum, it must conform to faculty guidelines specifying
the educational goals of each component of the program. Each
area usually offers between seven and fifteen courses every
year. Students are free to choose the course that interests them
the most in each area of the Core.

In contrast to Harvard’s former General Education

program, the Core Curriculum is far more specific in
identifying both the areas and approaches to knowledge that
students ought to experience as part of their undergraduate
education. It introduces areas such as moral reasoning, foreign
cultures, quantitative reasoning, music, and visual arts that
were not required in the older program. And even those areas
common to both programs—literature, history, social and
natural science—are organized differently to fit in with the
Core’s unifying emphasis on important ways of thinking.

The chief significance of the Core program is that it

represents a continuing commitment to general education in
Harvard College. The Core is, simply, an attempt to say what it
means to be broadly educated today, and to translate that
appraisal into courses that will capture the interest of students
and faculty alike. It is in this sense an introduction to the
requirements for a vigorous life of the mind in the twenty-first
century. As such the Core Curriculum is part of a larger,
continuous effort to make a Harvard undergraduate education
useful, engaging, and enlivening.

A discussion of each area of the Core Curriculum

follows.

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 FOREIGN CULTURES

The goals common to all the courses in Foreign

Cultures are to expand the student’s understanding of the
importance of cultural factors in shaping people’s lives, and to
provide fresh perspectives on the student’s own cultural
assumptions and traditions through study of a culture
significantly different from that of the United States and the
Anglophone cultures of the British Isles, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand. Courses in this area may devote attention to
religious and ethical values, to social, economic, and political
systems, to intellectual trends, and to literary and artistic
achievements, but always with a view to exploring the ways
such aspects of a culture are linked to each other. Whether the
primary emphasis is on the analysis of key texts and works of
art, on historical change, or on other fundamental aspects of
individual or social life, these courses will seek to identify the
distinctive patterns of thought and action that account for the
particular configuration or ethos of another culture.

Students may fulfill the Foreign Cultures requirement

by taking one of three different kinds of courses:

a) A one-term course listed under Foreign Cultures

devoted to a culture or cultures distinct from that of the United
States and the Anglophone cultures of the British Isles,
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This course may be
taught in English or in the language of that particular culture,
in recognition of the importance of language in cultural studies.
Courses on French, German, and Spanish cultures are usually
taught in the language of the culture.

(b) A two-term foreign language course listed under

Foreign Cultures, in which the substance of the course, in
addition to language study, meets the specifications of the

4
Foreign Cultures guidelines. Students choosing this option
must complete both semesters to fulfill the requirement.
(c) A pre-approved summer program of study
abroad offered through the Harvard Summer School, or a
summer program of study abroad approved by the Foreign
Cultures Subcommittee (consult the Core Office well in
advance).

Students may also fulfill the Foreign Cultures

requirement through specific advanced work in languages or
certain non-Anglophone cultures:

(d) A Foreign Language Citation in either a modern

language (four courses) or classical language (four courses plus
one which connects the classical to the modern). Students
must present their approved Citation Plan and complete a form
at the Core Office to request Foreign Cultures credit for a
Language Citation.

(e) A Secondary Field in one of these four areas: East

Asian Studies, Germanic Languages and Literatures, Romance
Languages and Literatures, or Slavic Languages and
Literatures. Students must present their approved Secondary
Field Plan and complete a form at the Core Office to request
Foreign Cultures credit. Note that students may not file a
Secondary Field Plan until they have submitted a concentration
Plan of Study.

Note that students earning credits for a term or terms

of study abroad for which they are also reducing their Core
requirement (see page 31) may use a maximum of two courses
from such a program towards the Foreign Language Citation
alternate. Consult the Handbook for Students and the Core
Office for further information.

With the exception of the courses listed on pages 32-33,

departmental courses (including language courses) may not be

5
substituted for Foreign Cultures courses to meet the
requirement in this area.

HISTORICAL STUDY

The common aim of courses in Historical Study is to

develop students’ comprehension of history as a form of
inquiry and understanding. The course offerings fall into two
groups, representing two approaches to the study of history.

Courses in Historical Study A are broad ranging, and

explain the background and development of major aspects of
the modern world. They help the student understand through
history some of the great issues—often problematic policy
issues—of our own world. They reach back to the origins of
segments of modern civilization and show the sequential
developments through which they passed, and the process by
which they came into their modern and familiar form.

Courses in Historical Study B focus closely on the

documented details of some central historical event or
transformation in the deeper past. The subjects are sufficiently
documented to permit close analysis of specific conditions,
motives, and decisions. The aim is to develop an
understanding of the complexity of human affairs and of the
way in which a variety of forces—economic, cultural,
religious, political—have interacted with individual aspirations
and with the deliberate efforts of individuals to control and
shape events.

LITERATURE AND ARTS

The common aim of the courses in these areas is to

foster a critical understanding of artistic expression, and to
exemplify the ways in which the humanities, like other fields
of study, are an arena for scholarly examination and discussion.

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As is characteristic of the Core Curriculum as a whole, courses
in Literature and Arts are intended to illustrate and analyze
what constitutes knowledge in the various fields: its varieties,
forms, scope, uses and abuses, and modes of interpretation.
Literature and Arts courses will familiarize students with major
works, major themes, or clusters of creative achievement in
particular times and places. The treatment of these works will
introduce the practice of critical analysis and the nature of
scholarly argument in the humanities. Core courses on the
study of literature and the arts fall into three groups.

Courses in Literature and Arts A are designed to

provide students with a variety of critical and analytic
approaches to literature, and to offer a range of responses to
questions such as the following: how does literature function;
how are literary genres and traditions constituted and
transformed; what are the relations among author, reader, text,
and the circumstances in which the text is produced; how is our
reading of the literature of the past influenced by the concerns
of the present? Courses may be organized directly around such
problems or around specific genres, modes, and periods.
Unlike courses in Literature and Arts C, which also consider
literature, the courses in Literature and Arts A focus on literary
texts and methods of literary analysis.

Courses in Literature and Arts B introduce students to

a non-literary form of expression. All courses will have as
their primary goal instruction in the elements of either visual or
musical understanding, in the discipline of looking and
listening. Courses may be organized around a specific genre,
category, individual, or broad issue. Some courses will
concentrate on the art or music of a specific period, but others
will discuss examples from different times and places. In
addition to studying the articulation of visual or musical forms
and their meanings, courses may emphasize to varying degrees

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the relationship between artistic or musical production and the
historical/cultural moment in which it takes place.

Courses in Literature and Arts C study creative

cultural epochs in history and explore how works of literature
and art function within a given society. They are often
interdisciplinary in approach and examine connections among
the arts. Focusing on significant periods, styles, or
movements, these courses describe and analyze ways in which
culture is produced, interpreted, and disseminated.

MORAL REASONING

These courses discuss those significant and recurrent

questions of choice and value that arise in human experience.
Their purpose is to explore ways of making a reasoned moral
or political choice. To that end, these courses seek to acquaint
students with the important traditions of thought that have
informed such choices in the past, and to enlarge the students’
awareness of how people have understood the nature of the
virtuous life. The courses are offered in the expectation that
they will help students realize that it is possible to reflect
reasonably about such matters as justice, obligation,
citizenship, loyalty, courage, and personal responsibility.
Courses on these matters will ordinarily be drawn from
Western traditions of thought, but may also examine reasoning
within non-Western traditions. The subject of Moral
Reasoning is not meant to comprehend all or even most of
what is taught under the rubrics of philosophy, jurisprudence,
ethics, or religion, but only those parts of these disciplines that
explain how individuals can and have come to grips reasonably
with matters of moral choice and the nature of right action.
Instruction chiefly devoted to the methods of philosophical
analysis, the history of philosophical, political, or religious
ideas, or surveys of religious and ethical traditions will not
ordinarily be included in this part of the Core.

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 QUANTITATIVE REASONING

The aim of courses in this area is to introduce students

to mathematical and quantitative modes of thought. Some
courses emphasize theoretical aspects of mathematics or
statistical reasoning: a course on number theory or deductive
logic, for example, would fall under this heading. Other
courses in this area explore the application of quantitative
methods to questions in the natural sciences, social sciences, or
humanities: courses on making decisions under uncertainty, or
on analyzing demographic trends are examples of such
applications.

SCIENCE

The common aim of these courses is to convey a

general understanding of science as a way of looking at
ourselves and our world. This world encompasses the very
small—elementary particles, nuclei, atoms, molecules, genes,
and cells; the very large—the Earth, the solar system, and the
universe; and living things including human beings. Each
course addresses one or several of these topics in some depth.
Students participate by solving problems, and by observing or
by experimenting in the laboratory. This exposure helps to
develop scientific literacy and numeracy, thereby leading to a
better understanding of today’s technologically and
scientifically oriented society. Core offerings in Science are
divided into two groups.

Courses in Science A are largely concerned with the

physical sciences and deal with the predictive and deductive
analysis of natural phenomena through quantitative
descriptions and synthesis of their simple elements.

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 Courses in Science B emphasize biological,
evolutionary, and environmental science. They present semi-
quantitative and frequently descriptive accounts of complex
systems that cannot yet be fully analyzed on the basis of their
simple elements.

SOCIAL ANALYSIS

The common aim of courses in Social Analysis is to familiarize

students with some of the central approaches of the social
sciences, and to do so in a way that gives students a sense of
how those approaches can enhance their understanding of
human behavior in the context of contemporary society. The
courses offered to meet this part of the Core requirement will
provide coherent theories or analytical approaches that are
systematically related to empirical data. Social Analysis
courses are not intended to survey a particular discipline, but
rather to illustrate the applications of analytical methods to
important problems involving the behavior of people and
institutions.

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 II

We have discussed why the faculty introduced the Core

requirement, and the rationale behind each of the components
of the program. We turn now to a more mundane set of
questions: What exactly do I have to do to pass the Core
requirement? How should I go about doing it? This section of
the guide offers advice of the sort you might get in a first
meeting with an adviser. It deals with the practical question of
how you might consider the Core requirement in relation to
your years at Harvard.

The Structure of the Harvard Curriculum

To place the Core Curriculum in perspective one must

see it in the context of the total course structure. We do not, as
many sister institutions do, use a semester-hour system for
calculating credits toward the degree. At Harvard, graduation
credits are counted in terms of full courses—courses that begin
in the fall term and extend through the spring term. The
“Academic Information” section of The Handbook for
Students stipulates that you “must pass sixteen full courses” in
order to graduate. The calculation of credit measured in terms
of full-year courses can be somewhat confusing at first, since
Core requirements and many other requirements here are
fulfilled with units of credit called “half-courses,” meaning
courses that run for one term, fall or spring. In fact, the vast
majority of courses currently offered in the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences are half-courses.

For purposes of explaining the Core requirement and

placing it within the total structure of a four-year program, we
will use the word “course” to refer to a one-term offering—in
the language of the Handbook, a half-course. You must pass
thirty-two courses in order to graduate.

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 You need thirty-two, but not any thirty-two randomly
chosen. The Harvard faculty expects, indeed requires, that
your choices fall into a pattern. Roughly half the work must be
used to fulfill the requirements in your field of concentration.
Of the remaining courses, you will choose seven to satisfy your
Core requirement. The normal pattern, then, is that you will
devote about half of your time to fulfilling the requirements in
your field of concentration, and about half of the coursework
outside your concentration you will commit to fulfilling the
Core.

The Core is not the only non-concentration degree

requirement. A course in Expository Writing is required of all
Freshmen, and you may have to take one or two courses to
fulfill the language requirement. Whatever remains of the
thirty-two-course total will be your electives (that is, those
courses chosen in free pursuit of your own academic interests).

The pattern of concentration, Core, and electives is a

rough model; there are innumerable variations. Fixing the
concentration requirements at fourteen to sixteen assumes that
you will choose to write a thesis or do other advanced work in
your field. If you elect to complete only the basic requirements
for your field of concentration, the required courses will
probably number twelve or thirteen, and you will have more
time for electives. In some cases, Core courses count toward
concentration. If you take such a Core course, the overlap with
concentration will add another course to your electives.

The Core requirement is designed to account for about

one-fourth of your course load, but you may choose to take
more Core courses than are required. The range of courses in
each Core category is sufficiently large to allow considerable
latitude in choosing a course to fulfill that particular
requirement.

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 The Core Requirement

Each student is required to fulfill the Core requirement

in seven of the eleven areas of the Core. Since the goal of the
Core Curriculum is to broaden each student’s perspective,
students must select one course from each of the seven areas
that have been identified as most remote from their fields of
study. Four Exempt areas are identified for each concentration.
For example, Foreign Cultures, Historical Study B, Literature
and Arts A, and Literature and Arts C are the Exempt areas for
Classics concentrators. (The Exempt and Non-Exempt areas of
each field of study are listed on pages 19-30 of this booklet.)

In a number of concentrations, students have a choice

among several Core areas for some of their exemptions. In the
concentration History and Science, which has multiple tracks
or areas of application, the choice of the fourth Exempt area
depends on the specific track within the concentration.
Students should therefore consult the Director of
Undergraduate Studies’ office in History and Science for
information about the Core requirement of the specific
program they wish to pursue.

A word about the exemptions. The Standing

Committee on the Core Program does not mean to suggest that
work taken under departmental auspices is an exact equivalent
of work taken in the Core. Quite the contrary. If that were the
prevailing philosophy, Harvard would have adopted a simple
distribution requirement and allowed students to fulfill their
non-concentration requirements with a collection of
departmental courses. By design, Core courses are different
from those offered by the departments. Although a number of
Core courses may be counted for requirements in various fields
of concentration, only a few departmental courses satisfy area
requirements in the Core program (see pages 32-33).

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 Why, then, are there four exemptions? Why not a Core
requirement in each of the eleven areas? The exemptions stem
from a firm faculty commitment that no more than seven
courses will be required in the Core Program. Since there are
eleven areas in the Core, it is clear that four must be omitted by
each student. The Core requirement complements, to the
greatest extent possible, the educational experience of the
concentration.

Incoming Freshmen will undoubtedly observe, perhaps

wryly, that it is a little difficult to pinpoint one’s Core
requirement until one formally selects a field of concentration,
which is not done until the middle of the Sophomore year.
This brings us to a discussion of recommended patterns for
choosing Core courses.

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 Recommended Patterns of Choice in
Fulfilling the Core Requirement

We have stated that roughly half your coursework, the

equivalent of two years’ work, may be taken in your field of
concentration, and seven courses, the equivalent of nearly one
year’s work, will be devoted to the Core. No one would
suggest that the three components of the curriculum should be
completed seriatim: the seven Core courses in Freshman year,
concentration courses in Sophomore and Junior years, and free
choice in Senior year. Each student should develop a strategy
for making an informed choice of a field of concentration at
the end of Freshman year, and a strategy that will enable the
student to fulfill most of the Core requirements before
beginning Senior year. Exercise your option to take electives
sparingly until it is quite clear that Core and concentration
requirements can be met in time to graduate.

Strategies will differ from student to student, depending

in part on one’s degree of certainty in the Freshman year about
a potential field of concentration or on the need to fulfill the
language requirement or to improve proficiency in
mathematics. But all strategies should be designed so that the
Core requirement has been completed by the beginning of your
last term of residence. You are not required to do this, but
common sense dictates that you should.

The Core requirement is a graduation requirement. You

needn’t fulfill it quickly, but neither should you delay getting
under way. Eight semesters appear to stretch ahead in rich
profusion, but the years pass quickly. Core courses should be
woven into the basic pattern of your program in each term,
especially during your first three years. Normally your
program should reflect the pattern of the whole: one Core
course, two courses related to, or taken in anticipation of, the
field of concentration, one course to fill in gaps or pursue other
interests. In general, then, you should plan to take at least one

15
Core course in each term, so that as you begin Senior year you
have only one Core requirement remaining, ideally none.

We recommend this strategy as a result of observing the

experiences of Seniors over the years. Unquestionably the
Seniors who have played catch-up with their Core requirement
regret not having planned their programs more carefully. Some
are writing theses while trying to meet the Core requirements
they let slide during their first three years. Those fulfilling a
Core requirement in Spring term of the Senior year are doing
so under difficult constraints. Not only do they hope to pass
the course they have been avoiding for seven terms, they must
pass it. There is no longer a margin for error.

Since most students reading this document will not

even have begun Freshman year, we should leave this handful
of doleful Seniors and return to programming strategies for the
Freshman year.

Before making suggestions, we issue a caveat.

Individual programs will, and should, vary widely. Harvard
students are responsible for their own course choices and
should follow their individual predilections, mindful of the
constraints of the Core and the field of concentration. Your
adviser will help work out a course structure tailored to your
particular needs and desires. Here, however, is a pattern with
which you can start.

If you have not yet fulfilled your language requirement

upon entrance, or if you need elementary courses that will not
count toward your intended field of concentration, take these
courses first. In some science concentrations, students are
expected to take prerequisites in the Freshman year so that the
sequence of courses required for concentration will be
underway early. In such cases, the Core requirement should
not be given a top priority. But if you fall behind in fulfilling

16
your Core requirement in Freshman year, make definite plans
to catch up in Sophomore and Junior years.

In choosing Core courses, you should, at an early date,

take courses in one or more of the areas that seem most remote
from your present interests and possible field of concentration.
As you look at the Non-Exempt areas of potential fields of
concentration, you might want to select courses in Core areas
not marked with a + or *; these signs indicate which ones a
concentrator may choose as exemptions. You will be meeting
the aims of a liberal arts education by broadening your
intellectual horizons as you start your college career. You may
even find that subjects that initially seem the least desirable
among those you must study will, after you have taken a course
in the area, become more appealing and develop into a new
intellectual interest. If so, you would benefit by discovering
the new interest in time to pursue it further. If not, at least the
part of the requirement you regard as most onerous will be out
of the way. Above all don’t begin a pattern of delay in meeting
a requirement that you approach with minimal enthusiasm. An
area that evokes minimal enthusiasm in Freshman year seldom
becomes more attractive in Sophomore or Junior years, and by
Senior year becomes disconcertingly burdensome.

For a second Core course in Freshman year, you have

several options. If you have a lively interest in an area of study
tangential to your expected field of concentration, see if the
Core offers any courses that will give you early insight into
that area. In the process of fulfilling your Core requirement
you will be exploring your known interests. Or you might
match up the course mentioned above (the one in an area that
least interests you) with one that seems especially attractive.
Balance your program with a variety of courses. If you have a
lively and adventurous mind, these choices will tend to blend
together, and you can reach the happy state of being a student
taking interesting subjects and coincidentally beginning to
fulfill requirements.

17
 A final note. Many departments count Core courses
toward their concentration requirements. If you take a Core
course that seems to treat a subject in or close to your intended
field of concentration—in an area Exempt for the concentration
—be sure to find out whether it will count in the concentration.
If it will, consider it in your program not as a Core
requirement, but as a departmental course. If you enter this
concentration, the course will then count for concentration and
not the seven taken for the Core. Fill in with another Core
course likely to be counted within the seven Non-Exempt
areas.

The above admonitions may have given the impression

that thoughtful Harvard students spend their waking hours
planning programs designed to include a bare minimum of
Core courses, taken only because they are required. This is
demonstrably not the case. The Core Curriculum has attracted
many of the most renowned and best teachers at Harvard. Core
courses are at the top of every list of the most popular
undergraduate courses. Many students take more Core courses
than they need to, and many students meet their Core
requirement by simply taking courses they want to take. The
admonitions above are meant only to warn the few who may
need such caveats that they should plan carefully and should
not delay meeting the requirement. Poets should bravely face
Core Science at the earliest opportunity. Scientists should
enroll quickly and with relish in Literature and Arts. In either
case you will be responding to the faculty’s desire that you
have a sound liberal education. And each represents a case of
sound planning.

18
 Requirements by Field of Study
for Students at Harvard College
for Eight Terms

African and African

American Studies Archeology (cont’d)
Exempt areas: Non-exempt areas:
Historical Study A Historical Study A
Historical Study B +Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A +Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C +Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Non-Exempt areas: +Quantitative Reasoning
Foreign Cultures +Science A
Literature and Arts B +Science B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A Biological Anthropology
Science B Exempt areas:
Social Analysis Science B
Social Analysis
ONE of the areas marked (+)
ONE of the areas marked (*)
Anthropology
Social Analysis is an exempt Non-exempt areas:
area for all three tracks. Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
Specific requirements are as +Historical Study B
follows: *Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
*Literature and Arts C
Archeology Quantitative Reasoning
Exempt areas: Science A
Foreign Cultures Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+),
depending on program, in
consultation with the wing Head
Tutor.

19
Social Anthropology
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Social Analysis
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Applied Mathematics
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study A
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
20
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
Chemical and Physical Biology
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
Chemistry
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
Chemistry and Physics
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
21
Classics
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
Non-Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Computer Science
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
ONE of the areas marked (+)
ONE of the areas marked (*)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
+Literature and Arts C
*Science B
*Social Analysis
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
East Asian Studies
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study A
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
Non-Exempt areas:
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
22
Economics
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Quantitative Reasoning
Social Analysis
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Engineering Sciences
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
English and American
Literature and Language
Exempt areas:
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
TWO of the areas marked (+),
but not both HA and HB
Non-Exempt areas:
+Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Environmental Science and
Public Policy
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study A
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
23
Folklore and Mythology
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
Social Analysis
Non-Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Germanic Languages and
Literatures
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Government
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study A
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
Non-Exempt areas:
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Literature and Arts C
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
History
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
+Social Analysis
24
History and Literature
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
History and Science
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Historical Study B
Quantitative Reasoning
ONE of the areas marked (+),
depending on subfield. Consult
concentration Director of
Undergraduate Studies.
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
+Science A
+Science B
Social Analysis
History of Art
and Architecture
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Literature and Arts B
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Human Evolutionary Biology
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
25
Linguistics
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Quantitative Reasoning
Social Analysis
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Literature
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Mathematics
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Social Analysis
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Science B
Molecular and Cellular Biology
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
26
Music
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Literature and Arts B
Literature and Arts C
Quantitative Reasoning
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Moral Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Near Eastern Languages and
Civilizations
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study A
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
Non-Exempt areas:
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Neurobiology
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
Organismic and Evolutionary
Biology
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
27
Philosophy
Exempt areas:
Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas
+Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
+Literature and Arts B
Science A
Science B
+Social Analysis
Physics
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Social Analysis
Psychology
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science B
Social Analysis
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Science A
Comparative Study of Religion
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
+Social Analysis
28
Romance Languages and
Literatures
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Sanskrit and Indian Studies
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Slavic Languages and
Literatures
Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Social Analysis
Social Studies
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Social Analysis
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
Literature and Arts C
Science A
Science B
29
Sociology
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Quantitative Reasoning
Social Analysis
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Science A
Science B
Special
See note at the end of this section.
Statistics
Exempt areas:
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Social Analysis
ONE of the areas marked (+)
Non-Exempt areas:
Foreign Cultures
+Historical Study A
+Historical Study B
+Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts B
+Literature and Arts C
Moral Reasoning
Science B
Visual and Environmental
Studies
Exempt areas:
Literature and Arts B
TWO of the areas marked (+)
ONE of the areas marked (*)

Non-Exempt areas:
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B
+Foreign Cultures
+Literature and Arts A
+Literature and Arts C
*Historical Study A
*Historical Study B
*Social Analysis

Studies of Women,
Gender, and Sexuality
Exempt areas:
Historical Study A
Literature and Arts A
Literature and Arts C
Social Analysis

Non-Exempt areas
Foreign Cultures
Historical Study B
Literature and Arts B
Moral Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Science A
Science B

30
 Special Concentrations and Joint Concentrations

Students doing Special Concentrations should consult the Core

Office about their Core requirement. Joint Concentrators are
assigned the exemptions of their primary field (the field listed first
on the joint concentration). Joint Concentrators who wish to have
their Core exemptions defined for their joint concentration should
complete an Inquiry form at the Core Office before the beginning of
their seventh term, and ideally as soon as their joint concentration
has been approved.

Advanced Standing

Students who complete their undergraduate program in fewer than

eight terms must satisfy the following number of Core areas:
seven terms at the College: six Core areas
six terms at the College: five Core areas
Advanced Standing students may not omit more than one area in
each of the following three clusters on the basis of Advanced
Standing:

• Foreign Cultures, Literature and Arts A, Literature and Arts B,

Literature and Arts C
• Historical Study A, Historical Study B, Moral Reasoning,
Social Analysis
• Quantitative Reasoning, Science A, Science B

The Core Requirement and Study Abroad

Courses taken at another institution may not be used to satisfy the

Core requirement. Thus, a student who earns one or two full terms
of Harvard credit for an approved program of study abroad may
reduce his or her Core requirement by one course for each full (2.0
Harvard credits) term of credit; however, a student may not omit
more than one course in each of the following three clusters on the
basis of study abroad:

• Foreign Cultures, Literature and Arts A, Literature and Arts B,

Literature and Arts C
• Historical Study A, Historical Study B, Moral Reasoning, Social
Analysis
• Quantitative Reasoning, Science A, Science B
31
No student may satisfy the Core requirement with fewer than four
Harvard Core courses or Departmental Alternates by combining
study abroad with their reduced Core requirements as an Advanced
Standing student. Consult the Handbook for Students and the Core
Office for further information.

OPTIONS FOR MEETING

CORE AREA REQUIREMENTS

Except as noted, in order to meet Core area requirements, students

must pass with a letter grade a Core course listed in that area. The
current year’s offerings in the Core Program are the initial section of
Courses of Instruction 2007-2008. Updates to this list are published
on the Core Program website, http://my.harvard.edu/core, and in the
electronic version of Courses of Instruction.

Harvard Summer School courses do not ordinarily count for the

Core requirement. Students should consult the Core Office for
information about specific Harvard Summer School courses that can
be taken for Core credit.

Departmental Courses that can be taken to meet Core area

requirements appear below. These courses are not necessarily
designed for a general audience; they may assume prior experience
or assume more than could be expected of students seeing the subject
for the first time. Note that not all of these courses are offered every
year.

Foreign Cultures
• African and African American Studies 20
• Chinese Literature 130
• Visual and Environmental Studies 187x

Historical Study A
• African and African American Studies 10
• History of Science 100, 175 (taken in 2005-06 or earlier)
• History 10b, 1318, 1449, 1470, 1484, 1638, 1657, 1658,
1851,1890b, 1907, 1918

Historical Study B
• History 10a, 1085, 1111, 1121, 1122, 1150, 1611 (now
Historical Study B-39)
32
Literature and Arts A
• English 10a, 10b, 17x, 120, 125, 151, 162c, 166x, 196
• Humanities 10, 12, 16, 25
• Literature 10
• Scandinavian 80

Literature and Arts B

•History of Art and Architecture 1, 10
• Music 1a, 1b, 2
• Visual and Environmental Studies 71, 72

Literature and Arts C

• English 177

Moral Reasoning
•Humanities 14
• Philosophy 178
• Government 1060, 1061, 1082

Quantitative Reasoning
• Applied Mathematics 21a
• Computer Science 50
• Mathematics 1a, 1b, 19a, 19b, 20, 21a, 21b, 23a, 23b, 25a,
25b, 55a, 55b, or both Math Xa and Math Xb
• Statistics 100, 101, 102, 104, 110

Science A
• Chemistry 17, 20, 27, 30
• Earth and Planetary Sciences 5, 7
• Engineering Sciences 50
• Life Sciences 1a
• Physics 11a, 11b, 15a, 15b, 15c, 16,
• Physical Sciences 1, 2, 3

Science B
• Engineering Sciences 6
• Life Sciences 1b, 2
• Molecular and Cellular Biology 52, 54, 80
• Organismic and Evolutionary Biology 10, 52, 53, 57, 139

Social Analysis
• Economics 1010a, 1010b, 1011a, 1011b
• Government 1780
• Sociology 190

33