fas.harvard.edu

The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) site at fas.harvard.edu is the main web presence for Harvard's largest faculty, and it is organized so that you can reach departments, academic programs, and student resources through a small number of top-level paths. The fastest approach is to decide first whether you want a department or program, a course or academic calendar, or a student-facing resource such as advising or the library, then use the matching entry point rather than browsing the whole site.

What fas.harvard.edu actually covers

FAS is the faculty that houses Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Division of Continuing Education, along with the departments and centers that sit under them. The website is primarily an institutional and navigational hub: it explains what FAS is, points to its schools and units, and links out to the individual department and program sites where most detailed academic information lives.

Because of that structure, you should expect fas.harvard.edu to route you to a dedicated site rather than host every course listing or faculty profile itself.

Finding departments and programs

Departments and academic programs are the most common destination, and there are two reliable ways to reach them.

• Use the site's own navigation. FAS organizes its units by school and by academic area, so a "departments" or "academic units" listing is the intended starting point. From there you select the department, which takes you to that department's own website.
• Search by name when you already know the target. If you know you want, for example, the Department of Economics or the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, searching the department name from the FAS site or a general search engine is usually faster than clicking through categories.

A practical rule: fas.harvard.edu is for discovering and confirming which department or program exists and how it is grouped; the department's own site is where you find faculty lists, concentration requirements, and course offerings.

Departments vs. programs vs. centers

These are not interchangeable, and the distinction affects where you end up:

If you are a prospective student looking for a concentration, start from the program or department rather than a research center.

Academic resources: courses, calendars, and libraries

Different resources sit in different places, so match the resource to the right entry point.

• Course catalog and course listings: These are handled by Harvard's central course systems rather than by the FAS homepage. Use the course catalog or my.harvard-style tools that the FAS site links to for enrollment and listings.
• Academic calendar: Term dates, add/drop deadlines, and exam periods come from the central academic calendar, which the FAS site points to.
• Libraries: Harvard Library is a separate system; the FAS site links to it rather than hosting catalog search itself.
• Advising and student support: Harvard College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences each maintain their own student-facing pages for advising, tutoring, and academic support.

The pattern is consistent: fas.harvard.edu is the index, and the resource you want is one click away on a specialized site.

Entry points by audience

Who you are changes which path is shortest.

• Prospective students: Start with Harvard College (for undergraduate study) or the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (for PhD and master's programs), then move to the specific department or program.
• Current students: Go directly to the course catalog, academic calendar, and your school's advising pages; the FAS homepage is mainly useful for finding a department you have not visited before.
• Faculty and researchers: Department sites and the relevant center or institute pages are more useful than the FAS homepage, which is largely institutional.
• Visitors and the public: The FAS site is a reasonable overview of what the faculty is and which units it contains, but events, news, and public lectures are usually posted on individual school or department pages.

Common sticking points

• Expecting course listings on the FAS homepage. They are not there; follow the link to the course catalog instead.
• Confusing FAS with Harvard University as a whole. FAS is one faculty within Harvard, so university-wide services like the library or central IT live on separate sites.
• Landing on a department page and stopping there. Department sites often have their own sub-navigation for undergraduate vs. graduate study; check both if you are unsure which applies to you.
• Assuming a program is a department. Interdisciplinary programs may be administered jointly and listed separately from any single department.

If you tell me the specific department, program, or resource you are looking for, I can point to the more direct route.

Yes. fas.harvard.edu is the official website of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the academic division that houses Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Division of Continuing Education. Because it is the institution's own publishing channel, the information there is authoritative for FAS programs, departments, and administrative policies. The practical question is usually not whether to trust it but how to navigate it to the right office — and that depends on what you need.

Why the site counts as an official source

The site is maintained by FAS itself, not a third party, so it reflects the division's own descriptions of its structure and offerings. That matters in three ways:

• Program and department information originates from the units that run them, rather than from an aggregator.
• Administrative and policy pages are published by the offices responsible for those policies.
• Updates happen when the responsible office changes them, so pages can differ in how recently they were revised.

One caveat worth internalizing: "official" does not mean "uniformly current." A department's research page, a dean's office policy page, and a student-services page are all official, but they are updated on different schedules by different teams. For anything time-sensitive — deadlines, eligibility, fees, required forms — treat the specific office's page as the starting point and confirm directly with that office before acting.

Finding the right department or program

FAS is large, and the fastest route is usually the academic structure rather than site search.

1. Start from the FAS homepage and look for the listing of departments, programs, and academic units.
2. Identify whether your question belongs to a department (a discipline, its faculty, and its courses), a program (an interdisciplinary or degree-granting unit), or a school within FAS (Harvard College, GSAS, SEAS, or Continuing Education).
3. Open that unit's own page. Department and program pages carry their own contact details, faculty listings, and advising information.

If you are unsure which unit owns a topic, the school-level page (for example, Harvard College for undergraduate matters or GSAS for graduate matters) is the better entry point than a specific department.

Contacting an administrative office

Administrative questions — registration, transcripts, financial matters, leaves, research administration — are handled by offices, not departments. To reach the right one:

• Use the site's directory or office listings to locate the office by function rather than by name.
• Prefer the contact method the office publishes for that specific purpose; many offices separate general inquiries from time-sensitive or document-related requests.
• Include enough context in your first message: your affiliation (prospective student, current student, faculty, staff, alum, or external), the program involved, and a clear statement of what you need.

If a page lists both a general address and a named contact for a process, use the named contact for that process.

Support services and further help

Beyond academic departments and central administration, FAS sites point to support services such as advising, libraries, and student support offices. These are typically reached through the school-level pages rather than through a department.

When you cannot identify the right office:

• Check whether the topic is handled at the FAS level or the wider Harvard University level — some services sit outside FAS.
• Use the site's search or A–Z listings if available, and search by the service (for example, "advising" or "registrar") rather than by an individual's name.
• If you reach an office that does not own the question, ask for a referral; staff at one office usually know which unit handles adjacent matters.

A quick way to decide where to start

The site is a reliable map of FAS, but it is a map with many authors. Use it to identify the unit that owns your question, then confirm details with that unit directly — especially for anything with a deadline or a formal requirement.

Harvard FAS (Faculty of Arts and Sciences) is the largest academic division at Harvard University, and it covers both Harvard College (undergraduate) and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), plus several professional and interdisciplinary units. If you are trying to figure out what you can study, research, or apply to through fas.harvard.edu, the short answer is: FAS is where most Harvard undergraduate teaching and most PhD/graduate arts-and-sciences programs live, and its site is the entry point for departments, concentrations, research centers, and admissions links.

What FAS actually includes

FAS is not a single school with one application. It is an umbrella that contains distinct academic communities:

• Harvard College — the undergraduate liberal arts program, organized around concentrations (majors) and secondary fields.
• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) — PhD and some master's programs across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
• Continuing education and special programs — including the Harvard Extension School and summer programs, which sit under FAS's broader structure.
• Research centers and institutes — cross-disciplinary hubs that host seminars, fellowships, and lab-based work.

Because of this structure, "applying to FAS" means different things depending on whether you want a bachelor's degree, a PhD, or a non-degree program.

Undergraduate opportunities (Harvard College)

Undergraduate study at FAS is built around concentrations rather than a fixed core major list. Students typically:

1. Explore broadly in the first year through the Program in General Education and electives.
2. Declare a concentration (e.g., in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, or engineering-adjacent fields).
3. Add a secondary field, language citation, or research project.

Key academic features include:

• Concentration advising — each concentration has its own requirements, tracks, and honors paths.
• Freshman seminars — small, discussion-based courses open mainly to first-year students.
• Research opportunities — undergraduate research assistantships, thesis programs, and summer fellowships.
• Cross-registration — limited ability to take courses in other Harvard schools, depending on program rules.

If you are a prospective undergraduate, the relevant path is Harvard College Admissions, not a FAS department directly.

Graduate opportunities (GSAS)

GSAS is the main graduate arm of FAS. It offers:

• PhD programs in disciplines such as history, economics, physics, molecular biology, and many others.
• Master's programs in selected fields, though GSAS is primarily PhD-focused.
• Interdisciplinary tracks and special committees that let students design cross-departmental research.

Graduate admissions is decentralized: you apply to a specific department or program, and each has its own deadlines, test requirements, and faculty contacts. The FAS site typically routes you to the individual department page for those details.

Research and faculty resources

FAS's research strength comes from its departments, labs, and centers. For a prospective student or researcher, the practical question is usually: who works on what, and how do I reach them?

• Department pages list faculty, research areas, and current projects.
• Centers and institutes host seminars, working groups, and visiting scholar programs.
• Libraries and archives support humanities and social science research.
• Lab websites (in the sciences) often describe ongoing projects and whether they take undergraduates or graduate students.

A useful approach is to start from the department closest to your interest, then look for the "research" or "people" section rather than trying to navigate FAS as a whole.

How to find departments, programs, and admissions info

The FAS site is organized by academic unit, not by a single "programs" list. To locate what you need:

1. Go to the FAS homepage and look for the departments and programs directory.
2. Identify whether your interest is undergraduate (Harvard College), graduate (GSAS), or continuing education.
3. Follow the link to the specific department or program.
4. On that page, find admissions or prospective students for application requirements.
5. For research, check faculty and research sections for current work and contact information.

Common sticking points:

• Deadlines vary by program — there is no single FAS application deadline.
• Testing and materials differ — some programs require GRE or subject tests, others do not; check the specific department.
• Undergraduate vs. graduate paths are separate — do not use a graduate department page for undergraduate admission questions.

Choosing where to look first

The main decision rule: match the type of opportunity (degree vs. non-degree, undergrad vs. graduate) to the correct sub-unit before diving into requirements. FAS's site is a gateway, not a single application portal, so the fastest path is always through the specific department or school that owns the program you want.

fas.harvard.edu is the official website of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the largest academic division of Harvard University. It serves as the primary information hub for FAS's academic departments, programs, faculty, students, and administrative resources. If you are looking for official information about FAS departments, courses, faculty directories, or academic policies, this is the authoritative source.

What FAS Is

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is the central academic body at Harvard responsible for:

• Undergraduate education through Harvard College
• Graduate education in the arts and sciences through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)
• Research and teaching across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering
• Administrative oversight of academic departments, centers, and programs

FAS is distinct from Harvard's professional schools (such as Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, or Harvard Medical School), which operate as separate faculties with their own websites and administrations.

What the Website Offers

The fas.harvard.edu site functions as an institutional gateway. Key types of information you can expect to find include:

How It Relates to Other Harvard Sites

FAS is one part of Harvard University's decentralized structure. The main university site (harvard.edu) covers the institution as a whole, while fas.harvard.edu focuses specifically on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Individual departments and programs often maintain their own subdomains or pages linked from the FAS site.

If your question concerns a specific department (e.g., Economics, History, Physics), you will typically find a direct link from the FAS site to that department's own pages.

When to Use This Site

Use fas.harvard.edu when you need:

• Official information about FAS academic departments and programs
• FAS faculty directories or administrative contacts
• Academic policies and governance documents specific to FAS
• News and events from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

For university-wide information, admissions to professional schools, or non-FAS programs, the main Harvard website or the relevant school's site is more appropriate.