ENGLISH CLR: Introduction to Screenwriting, taught by Musa Syeed
“Musa, a screenwriter and filmmaker who’s been to Sundance multiple times, teaches this class in the fall. I took it in the fall of 2020 and did not realize how much I learned about writing and life, in general, until afterwards. I had to apply for it in August—introducing myself in a letter to Musa. I wrote about a wooden duck, and he loved it. My classmates, who are now all close friends, similarly introduced themselves in creative, random ways.
This small class (less than fifteen students) focused on writing short scripts for film, met once a week for three hours, and during our time together, one of us would present our short and assign a narrator and actors. Afer the script was read, the class would dissect it and send letters to one another, giving their full, honest opinions. Whether you are a writer or interested in film or just want to learn more about storytelling and life, this class is for you. It’s far too cool to be put into the Q Guide box. ” —Arsh Dhillon ’23
GOV 1295: Comparative Politics in Latin America, taught by Steven Levitsky
“Even if you haven’t taken a comparative politics class or a class on Latin American politics, I promise you will love this. I had taken neither, but I can’t recommend Gov 1295 enough. I took the class last spring online, and obviously it’s even better in person. If Levitsky managed to be engaging and fun over Zoom, I can assure you his classes will not leave you snoozing in the back row of the lecture hall. You cover Latin American politics, focusing on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela, from the 1930s through present day. There is quite a bit of reading, but it’s worth it. Thank me later.” —Eleanor Fitzgibbons ’23
Gen Ed 1031: Finding Our Way, taught by John Huth
“For sheer wow power, it’s hard to beat Gen Ed 1031. It covers navigation using pretty much anything but a GPS: maps, compasses, stars, ocean currents, counting your paces, and so forth. John Huth, the professor, is a physicist by trade, but natural navigation is his passion. The whole course is an object lesson in the power of treating professors as people and letting them teach what they want, rather than forcing them to stick to a fixed syllabus. Both the material and the professor are fascinating.
Nobody who answered the question on “How strongly would you recommend this course to your peers” gave an answer lower than 5/5 (Recommend with Enthusiasm).” —Michael Kielstra ’22
Hum10A/B: A Humanities Colloquium: From Homer to Valeria Luiselli
“I took both sections of the class during my first year, and I loved devoting time to literature in a space that cultivated such interesting discussions around the texts. My section professors were Professors Stephen Greenblatt and Deidre Lynch, but I really enjoyed how the course rotated between different lecturers for each book. You also get paired with a Hum 10 mentor when you enroll, which is an upperclassman who has taken the course and can help advise you along the way—I’m still close with my Hum10 mentor to this day!
The Q guide gives lots of honest reflections which are mostly positive, but don’t freak out about some of the ones that comment on how work-heavy it is. It’s not as hardcore as you would think, in my opinion. Hum10 has a reputation for being a challenging course for first-years, but if you love to read I highly recommend this course.” —Carli Cooperstein ’24
English 10: Literature Today, taught by Teju Cole and Kelly Rich.
“The combination of the two professors makes for an interesting blend of literary critique, creative discussion, and advice from a published fiction writer. We read only works written since 2000, so it is truly a contemporary view of literature. A combination of poems, short stories and novels make the homework diverse and always exciting. It also incorporates creative writing, so the students get to use the skills they talk about in class. Take it!” —Kate Tunnell ’24
DPI 227: Religion, Values, and the Future of Democracy, taught by EJ Dionne.
“I will never forget my excitement after leaving the classroom building on the first day. This class is hosted by the Kennedy School, and I am confident that I am one of a handful of students from the college currently enrolled. The mixture of collaboration from so many students from different backgrounds and life experience as well as the depth of course content truly is something that I enjoyed and would highly recommend to other students.” —Marbella Marlo ’24
Math 21A: Multivariable Calculus, with David Freund
“It’s one of the few courses at Harvard that uses a proof of knowledge grading system which is good. I took it during my Freshman fall and it was pretty useful. Understanding high-dimensional curves is useful to everyone. Lots of TF teach it, there is no lecture. The Q guide is a scam. Find classes that work for you.” —Noah Tavares ’24
GOV 20: Foundations of Comparative Politics, taught by Steven Levitsky.
“Professor Levitsky presents an infusion of historical and contemporary information to teach the foundations of an extremely important topic for students of all backgrounds. Levitsky is not only one of the most brilliant and important political scientists in the world, but he’s also an engaging and buzzing lecturer that will make all students interested in a critical subject for understanding our past, present, and future. Gov 20 was a course that I took during my freshman fall, and it likely remains the course on which I’ve spent the most time outside of required assignments. The material, professor, and section leaders are just so interesting as to warrant your own engagement in the class.
Gov 20’s overall mean score of 4.45 (out of 5) on the Q Guide places it notably higher than the FAS mean of 4.26. The median time spent on coursework outside of the class was 7 hours per week, but if you pinpoint key readings and passages, you can take that time down by several hours!” —Oliver Adler ’24
WOMGEN 1225: Leaning In, Hooking Up: Visions of Feminism and Femininity in the 21st Century, taught by Phyllis Thompson.
“The Q Guide score is a 4.75. I took this course my freshman spring and not only is the material so relevant and important (for anyone) but also so accessible. You don’t need to know any gender theory or have any background in Women, Gender, and Sexuality; the material, professor, and TFs are all so approachable and welcoming. The Q Guide score is a 4.75. Technically you don’t really need to do all the readings or take notes or anything, but the material is all so interesting that I highly recommend it!” —Marina Zoullas ’23
HIST 1024: The British Empire, taught by Maya Jasanoff.
“I learned so much about the world as a whole, and Professor Jasanoff is a fabulous lecturer. I took it my freshman fall with my sister Lucy Hamilton (which is probably another reason why I enjoyed the course so much). Definitely go to lecture and take notes!” —Ellie Hamilton ’23
ECON 50: Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems, taught by Raj Chetty and Greg Bruich
“This course is an intersection between economics, data science, and social science. I believe this course is a must take for anyone interested in social issues and how we as a society can go about addressing them. Just about every week there is a new topic to dive into, and each topic is armed with a large amount of data to prove the points being made. The most enjoyable aspect however is not the teaching, but the hands-on projects students come up with and complete. For instance, students are asked to analyze social mobility in a city of their choosing and come up with a hypothesis as to why the local conditions are what they are. Both the projects and lectures in the class have turned out to be rewarding in my experience.” —Christian Browder ’23
HIST-LIT 90ES: Prison Abolition, taught by Thomas Dichter
“It involved reading fictional and firsthand accounts of incarcerated life as well as studying the history of the prison system. One of the more unique aspects was the opportunity to spend an hour a week volunteering with a prison-related non-profit. I took it online and loved it, but I bet it’s even cooler in person. The instructor received a 4.7 on the Q Guide for enthusiasm, but I feel like he deserves a 5. He’s so passionate about what he teaches, and it makes the class very engaging.” —Ryan Stanford ’23
GenEd 1171: Justice, taught by Michael Sandel
“I took Justice my freshman fall, and it changed the way I think about what is just in society and what it means to lead a good life. We considered how famous philosophers of the past have tried to answer big moral questions, as we debated contemporary ethical dilemmas in class. This course had an overall Q Guide score of 4.28 (although it should be higher) and the majority of people said that the workload was 3-5 hours a week, but I only spent 2-3 hours a week on work for this class.” —Gogo Taubman ’24