SLP Program Details
Program Overview
Summer Language Program classes run from June 15-August 6 and are held three days a week for a minimum of nine hours of instruction per week. Certain courses, like Classical Arabic or Christian Latin, require additional, mandatory weekly meeting sessions with the teaching fellow. Other classes will offer additional times with the teaching fellows on a voluntary basis. Regular attendance of all class meetings is expected.
Course Credit
Summer Language Program courses correspond both in quality and quantity of work to a full course given throughout the academic year (or to two one-semester courses). Each SLP course is eight units (two semesters) of credit at Harvard Divinity School; a unit is approximately equivalent to one semester-hour in academic institutions using that system of evaluation. Courses must be taken for a letter grade only and the program does not grant degrees. Students may audit, but only with payment of full tuition. Students at non-Harvard schools are encouraged to speak to their home institutions to obtain more information.
Absence Policy
The Summer Language Program at the Harvard Divinity School is an intensive eight-week language program that covers the instructional material of two academic regular-year semesters. Therefore, each day of instruction in the SLP corresponds to a whole week of the regular-year instruction.
Due to the accelerated nature of the Summer Language Program, it is of paramount importance that students are present (and on time) for each day of instruction. Students are expected not to plan extended travel or other activities that would prevent them from attending class on a regular basis. More than two or three days of absence during the SLP may endanger the success of the student in the program. If an absence is absolutely unavoidable, students are expected to always communicate with the professor for their language course, preferably before the absence will occur. Harvard University is closed however on the following holidays:
- Friday, June 19, 2026 | Juneteenth - no classes and/or sections; all HDS and Harvard University offices and libraries are closed.
- Friday, July 3, 2026 | July Fourth/Independence Day Observance - no classes and/or sections; all HDS and Harvard University offices and libraries are closed.
If your summer plans require multiple, longer and/or pre-planned absences during the Summer Language Program, it will be necessary to postpone your participation to the regular academic year or to the following summer.
Requests for Transcripts
Non-HDS students may request official transcripts for credit earned. (Students enrolled in degree programs at other institutions are advised to have their SLP courses approved in advance by the appropriate officer in their own school if they wish to have credit applied toward their degree program.)
All enrolled non-degree Summer Language Program participants can request an official record of their enrollment via Parchment.
HDS degree candidates and doctoral students in the Committee on the Study of Religion can see their information via the my.harvard portal.
Disability Accommodations
Students who feel they may need accommodations based on the impact of a disability should email accessibility@hds.harvard.edu, or visit the Office of Student Life for more information about support options.
Religious Accommodations
If you require religious accommodations for the Summer Language Program, please contact your instructor, and/or email the Director of the Summer Language Program.
Housing
Although the Summer Language Program is run completely online, if you are interested in residing in Cambridge during the summer, explore resources for finding temporary housing.