The History of Science Department offers a secondary field in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. This field gives students concentrating in other departments an opportunity to take a coherent cluster of courses in the history of science, technology and medicine. The program is designed to give students, first, a foundational sense of the field, and then, permit them to do more advanced work, including courses that will allow them to focus on particular interests and to do original research and other projects.
Requirements: 5 courses
1) History of Science 100. Knowing the World: An Introduction to the History of Science
2) Four courses in the history of science, ordinarily chosen from the 1000-level courses in the History of Science course search in courses.my.harvard.edu.
- 2000-level courses may be taken only with the permission of the instructor.
- One Freshman Seminar taught by a department faculty member may be counted as one of the four courses.
- Students will be permitted to take one (but no more) of their four courses outside the department, in a field related to the History of Science. Cross-listed courses in the History of Science catalog count in this category.
Other Information
With the exception of Freshman Seminars taught by department faculty members, all courses must be letter-graded. There is no minimum passing grade for courses to count towards the secondary field.
Decisions about whether courses from study abroad, Harvard Summer School, or other Harvard schools will count for the secondary field will be made on a case-by-case basis by the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Manager of Student Programs.
In department courses with limited enrollment, first priority will be given to History and Science concentrators; students affirming that they are doing the secondary field in History of Science will have next priority.
Secondary Fields Form
You can find the secondary fields form and more information about how to register for a secondary field here.