Your CA is your primary adviser and a valuable resource for you.
The Government Department recruits and trains a group of highly knowledgeable concentration advisers (CAs). We assign a specific CA to each House; this person acts as the official academic adviser for all Government students who live there. Often the Government CA is also a resident tutor, but, if not, the CA will be a non-resident Tutor with access to the House.
Whenever you have a question about requirements, course selection, the direction of your program—whatever it might be—please contact your CA. In addition to lifting the hold on your registration each semester, your CA will serve as your primary resource in the Undergraduate Program. While anyone in the Undergraduate Program Office (the DUS, ADUSes, and Undergraduate Program Manager) is available to help you, we strongly encourage you to make an effort to meet with your official CA at least twice a semester. Each CA has an appointment calendar that you can use to set up meetings during the semester.
The CAs for 2023-2024 are as follows:
| If your House is… | Then your CA is… | …and you can sign up to meet with them at the following link: |
| Adams | Daniel Roberts | Daniel Roberts’s Appointment Calendar |
| Cabot | David Sutton | David Sutton’s Appointment Calendar |
| Currier | Gabriel Katsh | Gabriel Katsh’s Appointment Calendar |
| Dudley | Nara Dillon | Nara Dillon’s Appointment Calendar |
| Dunster | Ahmet Akbiyik | Ahmet Akbiyik’s Appointment Calendar |
| Eliot | Last name A-J: Celia Eckert Last name K-Z: Daniel Lowery | Celia Ekert’s Appointment Calendar Daniel Lowery’s Appointment Calendar |
| Kirkland | Can Mutlu | Can Mutlu’s Appointment Calendar |
| Leverett | Brandon Martinez | Brandon Martinez’s Appointment Calendar |
| Lowell | Tyler Simko | Tyler Simko’s Appointment Calendar |
| Mather | Last name A-J: Sarah Mohamed Last name K-Z: Laura Royden | Sarah Mohamed’s Appointment Calendar Laura Royden’s Appointment Calendar |
| Pforzheimer | Julie Weaver | Julie Weaver’s Appointment Calendar |
| Quincy | Emma Ebowe | Emma Ebowe’s Appointment Calendar |
| Winthrop | Angelo Dagonel | Angelo Dagonel’s Appointment Calendar |
First-year students interested in Government should contact the undergraduate office in CGIS Knfael to set up an advising meeting.
Who Signs What?
While your house’s CA is your primary adviser in the Government Department, there are some forms that can be signed only by the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). Please use the information below to determine whose signature you need for concentration forms:
- Removing the advising hold to register for classes: Go to your CA.
- Taking courses at the Kennedy School (or other Harvard schools): There is a list of pre-approved HKS courses that you may automatically use for Government elective credit, but you still need to complete a cross-registration form in order to use the course for concentration credit and to have the grade counted in your concentration and college GPA. Please send the completed form to Karen Kaletka, the Manager of Undergraduate Studies. These forms are due the 5th Monday of the term in which you enroll in the class.
- Adding a course from another department to your concentration: There is a list of pre-approved courses cross-listed between the Government department and other departments, and you can enroll in any of those courses for Gov elective credit without prior approval. If you wish to make the case that certain college courses not on that list should count for Government concentration credit, you can submit a petition here.
- Joint Concentrations: If you wish to declare a joint concentration, you need approval from the DUS. Please sign up for a meeting with Dr. Dillon here.
- Study Abroad: If you wish to study abroad and count courses taken there towards your Government concentration, you will need approval from the DUS. Please sign up for a meeting with Dr. Dillon here.
- Senior Thesis advisers from other departments: If you wish to have a senior thesis adviser from outside the Government Department, you need to discuss your plans with ADUS in Government, who oversees the senior thesis program.