Fall 2026

Beauty does not lie in the eye of the beholder, nor is it an inherent property of things; it is a tool for understanding that individuality and objectivity are not the only realities, and that more important than both is the social and distinctly human...

Dante's Commedia is the story of a journey back from personal and societal Hell, through self-knowledge and friendship. The book itself is an act of friendship. It never disappoints. It teaches itself. It has been engineered to improve design thinking and...

The course studies the historical period that, on the one hand, invented modern politics, art, and science and, on the other, an awareness of origins and respect for traditions. Was it better for a prince to be loved or feared? What did a young woman have...

This seminar examines the fundamental principles of the Italian Constitution (Articles 1-12), dedicating one article per week to an in-depth study. Students will memorize these articles by semester’s end, mastering their text and significance. Each week...

This course is designed for TFs and TAs in the department of Romance Languages and Literatures who are teaching a Romance language at Harvard for the first time, or those who are interested in foreign language learning and teaching. It introduces TAs and...

"Pedagogies of Liberation" is preparation and accompaniment for new teachers who teach (anything!). We read selected works by exemplary pedagogues: Friedrich Schiller, María Montessori, John Dewey, W.B. Du Bois, R. Tagore, Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal, José...

This course explores the sea as a principle of literature, culture, and history in medieval and early modern Portugal and Brazil. It covers a broad range of textual genres and cultures of writing to understand how the sea, the oceanic, and the aquatic...

The Gothic has become an inescapable and proliferating presence in contemporary culture. The global expansion of the term, its rather astonishing plasticity, has led experts to distinguish between categories such as Urban Gothic, Rural Gothic, Eco Gothic...

Between 1923 and 1970, Jorge Luis Borges wrote some of the most original poems, short stories, essays and film scripts in Latin America and anywhere in the world, and he redefined the meaning and scope of literature. In this course, we will examine the...

“What is love (baby don’t hurt me)?” pop culture keeps asking; in Latin America, one answer has long come in the form of tears, melodrama, and serialized romance. In the 1960s, the romance‑comic series Lágrimas, risas y amor promised its readers an...