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Propose a Course

Table of Contents

  • About
    • Curriculum Planning
    • Harvard Courses
  • Process
    • Course Approval
    • Catalog Submission
    • Course Description

About

Curriculum Planning

An important step in the course development process is considering how the course meets curricular needs in the department or program or in the Harvard College curriculum (General Education, First-Year Seminar, or Quantitative Reasoning with Data, for example).  Faculty members should work with their Department Chairs or curriculum committees on curricular planning and course offerings. Generally, curricular planning in departments begins in the fall  and takes place in the context of annual department planning meetings with the Divisional Dean.

Harvard Courses

As you develop a new course, it can be helpful to understand how your course fits into the broader curriculum and what other courses have been offered on related topics. Below you will find links to current and past Harvard courses; undergraduate concentration, secondary field, and language citation requirements; and the Harvard College Curriculum.

Process

Course Approval

Each Department and program has their own course approval process; consult your Chair about internal deadlines for departmental decisions about courses for the coming year.  If you are applying to have your course approved for the Program in General Education, First-Year Seminars, or the Mindich Program, consult the program’s website for the most up-to-date information. Application deadlines can be up to a year before the course will first be offered.

Information about proposing courses for the Harvard College Curriculum:

Catalog Submission

In addition to writing a course description, you should work with your departmental curriculum coordinator to determine other course features that are part of the catalog submission, including meeting times for classes, sections, and labs; whether there are enrollment caps and if students must receive permission from the instructor to enroll; and prerequisites. Your departmental curriculum coordinator will submit this information to the Registrar by the middle of the preceding semester (see the Registrar’s registration planning document for current and upcoming deadlines). 

The Registrar’s Office maintains a course planning checklist that covers all of the important information to include in your catalog submission.

Course Description

Your course description—which will be published in the course catalog—should introduce students to the key questions they will be considering in the course and the materials and tools they will be using to investigate these questions.