Strengthening academic and residential life

Harvard and its Schools are dedicated to strengthening academic excellence through enhancing course offerings, upholding rigorous pedagogical standards, and implementing faculty development that support intellectual diversity and inclusive learning environments. Informed by the Task Force’s findings, Harvard and its Schools are further committed to increasing academic engagement with the study of antisemitism, Hebrew and Judaic studies, Israel, and related topics, as part of a broader commitment to scholarly inquiry across diverse fields and perspectives.

• HMS Working Group on Open Inquiry. In April 2025, HMS announced the formation of a Working Group on Open Inquiry to consider how to cultivate spirited dialogue in our pluralistic community and to promote intellectual rigor and civil discourse in our medical and graduate curricula. The group will help evaluate implementation of the recommendations in the Task Force reports pertaining to culture and climate issues.
• New Course Offerings at HDS: HDS has added courses on American Jewish Polity, Prayer Book Hebrew, American Muslim Polity and Islamic Chaplaincy and Ministry to the 2025-26 academic year. These are in support of emerging initiatives in Jewish and Muslim community leadership.

• New Course Offerings in Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). In Fall 2025, FAS will offer the following new courses on Jewish and Israeli history and antisemitism: Jews in the Modern Middle East and North Africa, 1800-present; Antisemitism, Then and Now; Theories of Antisemitism; Jews in the Americas; Yiddish Literature and Culture in America; and, What is Biblical Hebrew? Additionally, in Spring 2026, the History Department will offer a course on the Holocaust, and the Government Department will offer a course titled, The Politics of War and Peace in the Middle East.

• Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Adoption of the Classroom Social Compact.  Following the January 2025 recommendations from the FAS Classroom Social Compact Committee, faculty voted in March 2025 to adopt handbook language for students and instructors outlining expectations for classroom behavior to advance academic freedom, engagement of a range of viewpoints, and a vibrant learning environment. The expectations go into effect in the 2025-26 academic year.
• Course evaluations.  In summer 2025, Harvard College and many of Harvard’s graduate and professional schools undertook a review of their course evaluation processes to ensure evaluations appropriately elicit feedback from students as to an instructor’s ability to encourage competing viewpoints and create a classroom environment broadly conducive to learning.
• Institutional Voice Principles. In May 2024, the University adopted its Institutional Voice Principles and will no longer “issue official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core function” as an academic institution. The University can and will continue to speak out on anything relevant to its core function, such as free and open inquiry, teaching, and research.
• Defining expectations for teaching excellence. Deans will work with faculty to define shared expectations for teaching excellence that include: (1) maintaining appropriate focus on course subject matter; (2) ensuring students are treated fairly regardless of their identity or political/religious beliefs; (3) promoting intellectual openness and respectful dialogue among students; and (4) maintaining appropriate professional boundaries in instructional settings by refraining from endorsing or advocating political positions in a manner that may cause students to feel pressure to demonstrate allegiance.
• Integrating teaching excellence into academic policies and practices. The shared expectations for teaching excellence will be clearly communicated to faculty and incorporated into policy documents such as instructor handbooks. These expectations will be reflected in established review and oversight processes, including course evaluations, faculty activity reporting, and compensation review, and in reviews regarding hiring, promotion, and renewal.
• Expanding ladder faculty and research positions for Hebrew and Judaic Studies. Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ current academic plans commit to providing additional resources for the study of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, including the two-year appointment of a College Fellow in Jewish Studies, authorization for a senior preceptorship in modern Hebrew, an offer out for a chair in Jewish history and culture, and authorized searches for two named chairs (professorships) in 2025-26. In addition, the University has authorized funding for a post-doctoral position to advance research on antisemitism.
• Antisemitism research project. Harvard will dedicate resources to create a research project on antisemitism, led by a faculty expert in the field.
• Curriculum review. Deans will work with their faculty to strengthen existing academic review processes for courses and curricula, ensuring they uphold the highest standards of academic excellence and intellectual rigor while reflecting the shared teaching expectations described above. These review processes will respect disciplinary differences, faculty expertise, and academic freedom while fostering educational environments where all students can fully engage with course material.
• Increased academic offerings. Harvard will dedicate additional academic resources and opportunities to studying antisemitism and Hebrew and Judaic studies, including as a part of Harvard Law School’s Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Jewish Studies.
• Collaboration with Ben-Gurion University. In July 2025, Harvard announced a new collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) to offer study abroad opportunities for undergraduate students during the academic year and summer. This collaboration builds on similar study abroad and academic relationships Harvard has in place with other universities in Israel, including Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
• Postgraduate research exchange at Harvard Medical School (HMS). In July 2025, the HMS opened applications for the Kalaniyot Postdoctoral Fellowships, which will welcome scientists from Israel to conduct postdoctoral training in basic biomedical research at HMS.  
• Harvard Divinity School programming and initiatives.
  • Harvard Divinity School (HDS) has appointed new leadership for the Religion and Public Life (RPL) program effective July 1, 2025, with the Academic Dean serving as interim director to help with the transition. Additionally, the School appointed a committee of four distinguished scholars from outside Harvard to review the RPL program. The committee will provide an independent evaluation of the program, focusing on academic quality, effectiveness, and alignment with institutional goals.
  • HDS is taking steps towards the development of a Jewish Leadership Initiative, akin to the School’s longstanding Buddhist Ministry Initiative, to prepare students for service in their congregations, broader communities, and beyond.
  • HDS launched faculty searches in Fall 2024 for two positions: a Professor in Residence in Modern Jewish Studies and tenure-track Professor in Religion, Violence, and Peace.

Harvard and its Schools are supporting numerous initiatives to identify and disseminate best practices for fostering collaboration, dialogue, and understanding across differences—political, social, or otherwise—throughout the University. Much of this work has been ongoing. Examples include:

• Faculty Panel at Harvard Divinity School. In Fall 2025, HDS will host a faculty panel at Orientation where faculty will discuss their varied approaches to the study of religion and their differing backgrounds.
• Symposia and learning opportunities. Harvard has committed to hosting an academic symposium on antisemitism, the first of which will be held in the 2025-26 academic year. Additionally, Harvard will provide space to the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law to host a day-long campus event, which is planned for Spring 2026.
• Israeli/Palestinian guests at Harvard Law School. Through the Roger D. Fisher Fellowship in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, HLS is hosting experts working on Israeli/Palestinian conflict resolution during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.
• “Middle East Dialogues” and similar programming at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS). HKS will continue to organize a set of co-curricular activities with speakers from Israel, Palestine, and the broader region through which students can explore a diversity of perspectives on the Middle East.

Harvard and its Schools are enriching orientation and pre-orientation programming to ensure welcoming and inclusive experiences that support all our students and foster skills for dialogue across differences. Examples include:

• Highlighting Jewish life at Harvard. In August 2024, Hillel and the Harvard College Dean of Students Office hosted a webinar, open to all incoming College students, that highlights Jewish life at Harvard.
• Student pre-orientation and orientation programs. Harvard and its Schools have taken steps to enrich orientation and pre-orientation programming to ensure welcoming and inclusive experiences that support all of our students and foster skills for dialogue across differences. This includes in fall 2025, in line with recommendations from the President Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bais, incorporating principles of inclusion, openness and fairness into pre-orientation and orientation programs.
• Building community and dialogue skills. Harvard has enhanced its “welcome back” programming to strengthen inclusion for Jewish and Israeli students, faculty, and staff at the University. In addition, Members of the Harvard College Class of 2028 completed the Perspectives Program in partnership with the Constructive Dialogue Institute, which equips students with skills to engage productively across different perspectives and life experiences.