Jitters give way to discovery

Students listen during the course “A Humanities Colloquium: from Homer to Joyce” in Boylston Hall’s Fong Auditorium.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Campus & Community
Jitters give way to discovery

Veasey Conway

Harvard Staff Photographer

September 15, 2025 2 min read

Snapshots from the first week of classes

It’s September at Harvard and all the signs are here. Pathways under the canopy of American elms and honey locusts in Harvard Yard are bustling with undergraduates coming and going from academic buildings, dining halls, and residences. Classrooms are brimming with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Reviews of course outlines and syllabi are quickly giving way to teaching, group discussions, and problem-solving. In lecture halls, seminar rooms, and open studios, students begin to consider topics as wide-ranging as oceanography, archaeology, evolution and disease, rare books, and what qualities make a voice memorable.

Students in Harvard Yard.

Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer

“A Humanities Colloquium: from Homer to Joyce”

Glenda Carpio, one of six professors who leads the course covering 2,500 years of essential works, makes introductory remarks.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Louis Menand listens to his fellow professors.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Assistant Professor of English Tara Menon implores students to “do the reading.”

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

“Harvard’s Greatest Hits: The Most Important, Rarest, and Most Valuable Books in Houghton Library”

David Stern (far right) leads the class in the Dana-Palmer House.

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

“Can We Know Our Past?”

Rowan Flad lectures in the general education course.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Archaeology Professor Jason Ur (right) speaks to a student after class.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

“Observing the Ocean: Measurements and Instrumentation”

Fiamma Straneo lectures in a Geological Museum Building seminar room.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Michelle Diep ’27.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Erick Contreras-Rodriguez (left) and Madison Codding, both ’27.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Said El Kadi ’26.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

“Introduction to Voice and Speech”

Students take part in an exercise in Farkas Hall.

Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer

Eliana Heo ’27 discusses public figures with memorable voices during a small group activity.

Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer

Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer

Students perform body movements in the Theater, Dance & Media class.

Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer

“Evolutionary Medicine”

Christopher Kuzawa (left), Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, answers a question from Alexander Merheb ’27.

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

Akram Tahar Chaouch ’29.

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

Ally Ah Cook ’26.

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

The course takes place in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer