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advising
| ** Your Concentration Advisor will be the Government Resident Tutor in your house. |
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OFFICE HOURS FOR SPRING SEMESTER, 2008 |
With close to 600 undergraduate students, nearly 200 graduate students, and over 60 faculty members, the Government Department is one of the largest departments at Harvard. In our department you will find that the people behind the desks and on the other side of the phone lines are all committed to helping students choose courses, navigate department requirements, and investigate career options. To this end the department has established several resources designed specifically to assist undergraduate students. This chapter introduces the people who work to help make the undergraduate experience the best it can be for all students.
The Undergraduate Program Office
Hopefully you have already been to the Undergraduate Program Office at least once to get a signature on a form or a question answered, and we hope that was just one of many visits you will make to the Undergraduate Program Office during your time in the department.
At the very least, the Undergraduate Program is where you will come to get forms signed, such as add/drop and pass/fail, and to turn forms in, such as junior seminar/tutorial lottery forms and Senior Thesis contracts. More importantly, though, you should think of the Undergraduate Program Office as the place to come for advice and information. Whether you need help with the specifics - concentration requirements, course planning, finding a thesis advisor; or more general advice - "should I go abroad?," "should I write a thesis?," "what should I do this summer?," the Undergraduate Program Office is the place to start.
Director of Undergraduate Studies/Assistant Directors of Undergraduate Studies
The DUS and the ADUS’s are the academic advisors for the Department of Government and are prepared to advise you on all ordinary and extraordinary requirements related to your concentration, including waiving of requirements, Government credit for courses taken in another department or at another university, and other matters related specifically to the Government concentration.
The DUS and ADUS’s are aided by several Concentration Advisors (CA's) who are the Gov resident tutors in all the Houses, the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies, who manages the Undergraduate Program and the Undergraduate Program Office, and the Student Services Staff Assistant, who supports the day-to-day activities of the office. The DUS, ADUS’s and Concentration Advisors are available to speak with concentrators about any aspect of their experience in the department. To make an appointment with the DUS or ADUS’s call 5-3249.
Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies
Ellen Hart is the full-time administrator of the undergraduate program. In addition to managing the Undergraduate Program and supervising the staff, she serves as a liaison between students and faculty, and between the Undergraduate Program and other offices throughout the University (such as the Registrar and the Undergraduate Houses). Ellen also oversees the production of the various written and electronic materials produced by the Undergraduate Program, including this Undergraduate Guide, the Senior Honors Handbook, the weekly Events and Opportunities mailing, the list of courses that count for Government and related field credit, and registration materials.
You should feel free to contact her with any questions or concerns related to the Undergraduate Program. She can be reached at her office at 1737 Cambridge St., N 151B (6-8528) every day 9:00-5:00 or by email.
Student Services Staff Assistant
Karen Kaletka is the person whose friendly voice you will first hear when you call the office. She is here to answer any questions you might have about the Undergraduate Program or to put you in touch with the person or persons who can be most helpful to your specific questions or concerns. In the Undergraduate Program Office, we are strongly committed to “one-stop shopping”. If you come to us with a question about the program and we don’t immediately know the answer, we will find the answer for you or put you directly in touch with someone who does.
Concentration Advisors
The Concentration Advisors are usually Government Resident Tutors in the Houses. Your official advisor is the Government Resident Tutor in your House (if there is no Gov resident tutor in your house, another CA will be assigned as a non-resident tutor). They hold office hours each week in the House. Additionally, four CA’s hold office hours each week in CGIS. Whenever you have a question about requirements, about course selection, about the direction of your program - whatever it might be - please contact your CA or stop by the office. Though we recommend that you meet with your assigned Concentration Advisor, any CA will be happy to help you. In addition, if you have questions about a particular field it may be helpful to see the Concentration Advisor whose graduate work is in that field.
In addition to signing your study card and any other forms, your CA will serve as your primary resource in the Undergraduate Program.
While anyone on the Undergraduate Program staff is available to help you, we strongly encourage you make an effort to meet with your assigned CA so you can become familiar with each other and you will be able to call upon an advisor in the department who knows you. Each CA has regular weekly office hours and can be reached by email.
All discussions with any member of the Undergraduate Program staff are confidential. It is important that you keep them abreast of any difficulties, change of plans or other potential problems that may arise during the course of your studies.
The earlier the Undergraduate Program staff becomes aware of a problem, the easier it is to fashion a timely response. Often, you may be facing a problem shared by others in the concentration, and your willingness to bring it to the attention of the Undergraduate Program staff will benefit them as well.
Faculty Concentration Committee (FCC) and Undergraduate Affairs Committee (UAC)
The Faculty Concentration Committee (FCC) is composed of the DUS and two Assistant DUS’s. They meet approximately once a month with the Undergraduate Affairs Committee (UAC) to hear student concerns and discuss policy issues related to the Undergraduate Program. The Committee also considers joint concentration petitions. The UAC is an advisory body consisting of student representatives from each of the undergraduate Houses. The UAC deals with general issues of policy, such as course offerings, concentration requirements, departmental administration, undergraduate counseling, etc. The committee is an advisory body, providing a feedback mechanism for voicing the opinions of concentrators about the quality of the entire undergraduate program and for identifying any outstanding problems which merit attention. It meets approximately once a month.
Student representatives to the UAC are selected at the beginning of each academic year in each of the residential Houses of the College. Selection is usually by election, lottery, or by appointment by the Concentration Advisor in your House. If you are interested in serving on the UAC please contact your Concentration Advisor. In the last few years the UAC has addressed a wide range of issues, such as revisions to the Gov. 97 curriculum, the quality of teaching fellows, the elimination of the written general exams, enhancement of advising (including the senior thesis process and seminar series for juniors and seniors), and changes to concentration requirements. |
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DIRECTOR OF
UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES |
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Timothy Colton |
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OHs:W 10-12, Please contact Karen Kaletka for an appointment. |
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ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES |
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Eric Nelson |
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OHs:W 2:30-4:30, Please contact Karen Kaletka for an appointment. |
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Maggie Penn |
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OHs:F 10-12, Please contact Karen Kaletka for an appointment. |
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CA Office Hours in CGIS |
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All hours are 2-5pm in CGIS N151 |
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Mon: |
Carlos Diaz |
American |
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Tues: |
Suzanna Chapman |
Comparative |
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Wed: |
Eric Lomazoff |
Theory/American |
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Thur: |
Nathan Paxton |
Intern. Relations |
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CONCENTRATION
ADVISORS |
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ADAMS: Michael Nitsch is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Government Department, with a focus in political theory. He is originally from just outside New York City, and he attended Harvard College, where he was a Government concentrator and a photographer for the Crimson. His interests include character in politics, nature's use as a political standard, and the politics of religious toleration; he also has a special interest in Rousseau. Having now been in the department for seven years as both an undergraduate and a graduate student, he'd love to talk with you about the department or about theory more generally. If he's not around CGIS, you have a good chance of finding him in Adams House, where he's serving as a resident tutor for a second year.
Office Hours in Adams House:
F, 11:30am -1:30pm
Adams Dining Hall |
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CABOT: Brandon Van Dyck is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Government Department. Formerly a theorist, he realized recently that his main interests actually lay in the field of comparative politics, with a Latin American focus. He would be happy to talk to you about course selection, paper-writing, handling large workloads, or just your own ideas about what you study. Outside of academe, he enjoys friends, music, dancing, running, and playing soccer.
Office Hours in Cabot House:
F, 3:30-5:30pm
Cabot Dining Hall |
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CURRIER: Colin Moore is a 5th-year Ph.D. student in the Government Department, and the resident Gov tutor in Currier. He is originally from California, but ventured out to Philadelphia to attend college at Swarthmore, where he majored in political science and philosophy, and managed to develop strong opinions on why CheezeWhiz is the only proper topping for a cheesesteak. Colin's academic work focuses on the development American political institutions, and he's currently writing a dissertation on the origins of American imperialism at the turn of the century. When he’s not reading the presidential papers of William H. Taft, he likes to hike, watch the Red Sox and the Daily Show, and, of course, talk about politics.
Office Hours in Currier House:
W, 5-7pm
Currier Dining Hall |
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DUNSTER: Carlos Díaz is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Government. His research focuses on the American presidency, public policy, bureaucratic politics, political leadership, and comparative chief executive politics. Taking the American presidency as a starting point, his research seeks to increase our understanding of how political chief executives are able to affect policy and provide leadership as the energizing elements of our governments. Carlos has extensive teaching experience in the Department of Government, where he has served as head teaching fellow for numerous courses, including the American Presidency, American Society and Public Policy, the Politics of Congress, Globalization and its Discontents, the Cuban Revolution, and many others. He has also taught, and will teach again this spring, a Junior tutorial on “Presidents, Governors, and Mayors: Chief Executive Power in Comparative Perspective.” He holds undergraduate degrees summa cum laude in International Relations (BA) and Civil Engineering (BSCE), as well as graduate degrees in Public Policy (MPP) and Government (AM). He is a pre-doctoral fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard and is the Sophomore Advising Coordinator and Resident Tutor in Government at Dunster House.
Office Hours in Dunster House:
M&W, 6-7pm
Dunster Dining Hall
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ELIOT: Amy L. Catalinac is a fourth-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Government and a Graduate Student Associate at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. She is interested in the US-Japan alliance, Japan's national security policy, and ideational sources of foreign policy change. Amy has written on topics as diverse as Japan's whaling policy, constitutional revision in Japan, changing security policy in Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, oil and civil war, and ethnic diversity and economic performance. Amy completed her undergraduate education in her native New Zealand in 2002, after which she studied at the University of Tokyo for several years before coming to Harvard. While in Japan Amy worked for the Liberal Democratic Party as a translator and for a Japanese politician as an intern. Amy also serves as the graduate student coordinator for the Contemporary Japanese Politics Study Group.
Office Hours in Eliot House:
W 6:15-8:15pm
Eliot Dining Hall |
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KIRKLAND: Maya is a second-year student in the Ph.D. program studying American politics. She attended Harvard College (Class of 2000) and Stanford Law School (Class of 2004). For the past two years, she held various legal positions, including a wonderful clerkship in Memphis, TN, on the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, as well as a fellowship attorney position with a non-profit based in New York City. Here in the Government Department, Maya focuses on American politics, in particular race and politics and public law. In her free time, she can be found at the law school gym or watching another Arrested Development rerun. Maya is happy to talk to students who are thinking about focusing on American politics or thinking about eventually going to law school.
Office Hours in Kirkland House:
T, 8-10pm
Kirkland Dining Hall |
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LEVERETT:Suzanna Chapman is a fourth-year graduate student in the Government Department. Her research interests lie in the overlapping fields of International Relations and Comparative Politics. She studies transnational issues including migration, humanitarian and development assistance, and international organization. She has a love for the Big Apple, for traveling almost anywhere, and longs for sunshine and tex-mex for the entire Boston winter.
Office Hours in Leverett House:
T, 12-2pm
Leverett Dining Hall |
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LOWELL: Marc Alexander (www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~malexand) is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Government and a doctoral fellow at the Kennedy School. He is also a resident tutor and a GLBTS adviser in Lowell House. His dissertation is on the political economy of health, and his current research includes statistical modeling, behavioral economics, and the politics of cooperation and conflict. His teaching includes GOV 20: Intro to Comparative Politics, GOV 97: Sophomore Tutorial, and a new junior tutorial on the Middle East. Prior to coming to Harvard, he studied at Oxford and at Yale, where he spent his free time playing rugby and running the Yale Daily News editorial page. After graduation, he worked as a journalist and a consultant in the private and the public sector, including major news agencies and the biotech industry. He enjoys rowing, running and hiking in New England and California.
Office Hours in Lowell House:
T&W, 10pm-12am
Lowell Dining Hall |
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MATHER: Patrick Lam is a second-year Ph.D student in the Department of Government and a resident tutor in Mather House. His interests are in quantitative methods and its use in both comparative politics and international relations. He is originally from Southern California, where he has spent most of his life. He graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in political science. As an undergrad, he served as a resident assistant in the residence halls and thoroughly enjoyed his experience. When he's not learning new statistical methods or studying politics, Patrick enjoys playing basketball, watching movies, and watching one of his many favorite TV shows.
Office Hours in Mather House:
Th 8-10pm
Mather Dining Hall |
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PFORZHEIMER:Yev Kirpichevsky is a 6th-year Ph.D. student in the Government Department, and his subfield is International Relations. He is interested in studying international conflict and cooperation using game theory and quantitative methods. In his dissertation, he plans to develop and test a general theory of spying and secrecy. He advised a thesis last year and enjoyed the process a great deal, so feel free to talk to him if you need an advisor. Outside his student life, he enjoys tennis, movies, and all things Russian and Ukrainian (excluding their politics).
Office Hours in Pforzheimer House:
M 6-8pm
PfoHo Dining Hall, Upper Level |
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QUINCY:Eric Lomazoff is a fourth-year graduate student in Government and native Philadelphian who still can't figure out if he's technically a member of the American Politics or Political Theory subfield. As such, one of his hobbies includes fence-sitting. General breeze-shooting with members of Quincy House would certainly constitute another. He is beginning work on a dissertation that will consider the recurring historical debate between 1791 and 1836 over the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States, and is happy to talk with students about the history of both American politics and American political thought.
Office Hours in Quincy House:
T 8-10pm
New Quincy 401 |
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WINTHROP: Nathan Paxton is a second-year resident tutor in Winthrop House, where he is also the BGLTS tutor. His subfields are International Relations, Political Theory, and Research Methods (primarily qualitative). His research interests include International Institutions and Organizations, History of IR in Political Thought, and International Politics of HIV/AIDS. He also does a bit of work at Quad Bikes up in Cabot House and is an avid fan of the Simpsons, Lost, and U2. Stop by the dining hall to talk with him about government stuff or about pop culture or whatever else in on your mind.
Office Hours in Winthrop House:
F, 3-5pm
JCR |
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Page Last Updated: June 20, 2008, 1:48 pm |
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