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About
Gen Ed is a unique place where faculty from across Harvard offer courses they’ve always dreamed of teaching — and students take courses they’ll never forget.
Background photo of Pia Sorensen teaching Gen Ed 1104: Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science.
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Program History
General Education has been an integral part of a Harvard College education since the 1940s. The current program was launched in 2019. Its ambition is to enable undergraduates to put all the learning they are doing at Harvard, outside as well as inside the classroom, in the context of the people they will be and the lives they will lead after college.
General Education Office
The Gen Ed Office advances the intellectually transformative vision of Harvard College by guiding students as they explore the Gen Ed curriculum and by providing comprehensive administrative and logistical support to Gen Ed faculty, teaching staff, and the Standing Committee on General Education. We enable faculty to teach the courses they’ve always dreamed of teaching, which become the transformational courses students remember for a lifetime.
Staff
The Gen Ed office supports the intellectually transformative mission of Harvard College by guiding students as they explore the Gen Ed curriculum and by providing comprehensive administrative and logistical support to Gen Ed faculty, teaching staff and the Standing Committee on General Education.
Need Assistance?
Students
We’re happy to help students with any questions about Gen Ed. If your question isn’t answered in our FAQs, please email gened_questions@fas.harvard.edu.
Faculty
We provide comprehensive administrative and logistical support to Gen Ed faculty and teaching staff. Contact us at genedcourses@fas.harvard.edu with any questions or needs related to your course.
2025-2026 Standing Committee on General Education
The Standing Committee on General Education is responsible for the intellectual and pedagogical oversight of the Program in General Education. The Committee reviews proposals for new General Education courses, conducts regular reviews of all General Education courses, and advises regarding pedagogical initiatives. Professors Fiery Cushman and Jason Ur are Co-Chairs of the Standing Committee on General Education.
- Fiery Cushman, Professor of Psychology (Co-Chair)
- Jason Ur, Stephen Phillips Professor of Archaeology and Ethnology (Co-Chair)
- David Deming, Danoff Dean of Harvard College (Ex Officio)
- Gillian Pierce Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Academic Programs & Policy (Ex Officio)
- Philippe Cluzel, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology (Fall 2025)
- Joyce Chaplin, James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History
- John Huth, Donner Professor of Science
- Salmaan Keshavjee, Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine
- Michael Puett, Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology
- Jennifer Roberts, Drew Gilpin Faust Professor of the Humanities
- Matt Saunders, Professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies
- Matthew Sohm, Assistant Director of Civil Discourse and Classroom Culture, the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
- Eric Gong ’27
- Marin Gray ’26
- Lotem Loeb ’27