The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

Email: bokcenter@fas.harvard.edu  

The Bok Center provides faculty, graduate students, and other instructors teaching in the FAS and beyond with a wide range of resources and programming to foster excellence and innovation in teaching and learning. Promoting a culture of rigor, collaboration, and experimentation, we support instructors in creating dynamic and inclusive learning environments. The Bok Center assists faculty in centering academics in the student experience, encouraging civil discourse and constructive dialogue in the classroom, designing courses and assignments that are both AI-resilient and AI-enhanced, and exploring evidence-based strategies to promote learning.  Our Learning Lab collaborates with faculty and units across the University FAS and beyond to create and implement innovative assignments and course activities, particularly focusing on rigorous, AI-enhanced and multi-modal assignments and workshops. Instructors can access our self-service Teaching Resources and/or contact us to receive individualized support.

The Bok Center works with instructors of every rank and at every stage of their professional careers. We collaborate with the Office for Faculty Affairs to facilitate orientations for new faculty. Teaching Fellows and Teaching Assistants are required to attend a Pedagogy in Practice training session, and return instructors are required to attend advanced workshops. Undergraduate course assistants are required to take a training session. International students and scholars who want to improve their oral English communication skills to prepare for the Harvard classroom and beyond engage with our Professional Communication Program for International Teachers and Scholars. Advanced PhD students may apply to our Bok Graduate Fellows program to support instructors across the FAS with pedagogical challenges. 

Further information and resources on teaching are available on the Bok Center’s website.