See Also
New Concentrations for 2009–10
New this fall, concentrations in:
- Clinical psychology
- International relations
- Legal studies
- Visual arts
See News for details.
This page contains content from the 2008–09 academic year. For current information, visit the Harvard Extension School website at www.extension.harvard.edu.
Degree Requirements
To earn the ALM, students must meet the following general requirements:
- Complete nine courses and a thesis (40 credits):
- The area proseminar
- Six in the field of concentration, at least one of which is a seminar
- Two electives outside the field of concentration; one must be a seminar or writing-intensive course
- The master’s thesis
-
Earn a grade of B– or higher in each course (B or higher in the three required for admission) and maintain an overall average of B in all ALM courses, which can only be earned at Harvard Extension School, Harvard Summer School, or as Special Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
- Complete eight of the 10 courses with Harvard instructors. Courses marked with the HI attribute in the degree course search fulfill this requirement.
Literature and creative writing concentrators: Complete CREA E-100r, four additional courses in creative writing, and three in English or any foreign literature, one of which must be a seminar.
In the fields of biology and psychology, one graduate-level course in statistics must be completed at the Extension School or the Summer School with a grade of B or higher before submission of the thesis proposal. STAT E-50, STAT E-102, or an approved Summer School course fulfills this requirement. For biology concentrators, this course may count either as a field course or an elective. For psychology concentrators, it counts only as an elective. Before commencing any ALM coursework, students who have already completed a graduate-level course in statistics elsewhere with a grade of B or higher may petition to waive this requirement by passing the ALM statistics exam. Those receiving a waiver take another course as a field course or an elective, depending on your field.
Specific degree requirements are further detailed in this section. See the Requirements Summary for an easy reference and downloadable worksheets.
Writing-Intensive Courses
Writing-intensive courses at Harvard Extension offer students the opportunity to develop their writing skills in the context of a particular academic discipline, and they all feature common elements. Students:
- Develop core writing skills, as defined by the instructor, in the discipline of the course
- Complete multiple writing assignments of varying lengths, at least two of which must be revised
- Produce a minimum of 10 to 12 pages of writing, exclusive of the required revisions, over the course of the term
- Meet at least once in individual conference (in person, by phone, or electronically) with the instructor or teaching assistant to discuss writing in progress
- Receive detailed feedback on their drafts and revisions, on both content and expression
Selecting Courses
To see how current course offerings fulfill requirements, use the degree course search.