Professing in the Summer

William L. Fash summers in Copan, Honduras.

His resort hotel is the Harvard Field School and his travel companions are 12 students who accompany him as part of the summer school course Anthropology S-132: "Field Methods in Maya Archaeology."

Fash is a senior Harvard professor--the Bowditch professor of central American and Mexican archaeology and ethnology.

But he is one of about 120 teachers affiliated with Harvard who will spend their summer vacations teaching students who are mostly not full-time Harvard undergraduates.

"I do my best teaching in the field. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to get their hands dirty and to conduct the craft of excavation," Fash says.

Most professors who teach during the summer are junior faculty, including many lecturers, assistant professors and teaching fellows, according to Peter Buck, dean of the summer school and senior lecturer on the history of science.

But approximately 25 of them are full professors and 10 are senior lecturers or preceptors, he says.

These professors come from all areas of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), from humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

Why do big names--from Bernbaum Professor of Literature Leo Damrosch to Professor of History William E. Gienapp--choose the classroom over summer-time research?

Some do it for the money. Some say they simply love teaching and can use the summer as a testing ground for new courses. Others say they enjoy exposing a whole new set of students to their favorite topics.

To Spread the Word

By all accounts the summer school population is more varied than that of the College during the academic year.

Summer school students include high school students taking advanced courses, Harvard College students taking courses for credit, students from other colleges and universities and older adults wishing to take more courses, Buck says.

This interesting group of students gives professors a new audience to reach.

"Most of my colleagues are fascinated by what they do, and they want to tell people about it," said Buck.

Most of the courses that Harvard professors teach in summer school are similar--in content if not in speed--to those they teach during the academic year.

For them, the summer can allow time to spread the word about a beloved academic discipline to a whole new group of students.

"Most them do it because of their interest in teaching, and in teaching a slightly different mix of students than in the year. They get to broaden their horizons," said Buck.

But summer school can also provide professors an opportunity to search out the pitfalls of a new class before they offer it during the regular academic year.

Gienapp, for instance, taught both of his popular courses, Historical Study B-42: "The American Civil War" and History 1653: "Baseball and American Society," in summer school before inviting undergraduates to sign up.

Damrosch did the same thing with his course Literature and Arts A-72: "The Enlightenment Invention of the Modern Self," which was offered last year in summer school and this past fall for the first time in the College.

"It was a kind of trial run. I made quite a few changes based on how things went," Damrosch says.

Money Talks

But some of the best-known summer school professors say the school's financial compensation can be reason enough to stay in the classroom.

"I could not survive financially without the additional income," Gienapp writes in an e-mail message.

Gienapp says the job can be hardship. Many professors devote their summers to intense research in preparation for publications.

"It is an enormous handicap, since I have no extended time either to do research or write. In order to compensate, I have to spend more of the days I am not teaching on my own work, which severely limits activities with my family," he writes

For Damrosch, who also teaches English S-10b: "Major British Writers II," summer school wages can pay for research in other years.

"Some summers I may go abroad to do research. And some summers I am catching up [financially] like this," he said. "Financial motivation is a strong one. But it doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile doing."

According to Buck, many summer school professors manage to be prolific scholars even with the extra teaching commitments.

"The people who teach in summer school seem to do more than their share of writing and research," he says. "Teaching is time consuming. If it is not intellectually stimulating and you are not enjoying it, no amount of money is worth it," Buck says.

An Intense Experience

Summer school students tend to spend more time on their academic coursework, which draws many professors to the school, Buck says.

"You do have people's attention in a way that you don't have during the academic year. You can expect better responses and responsiveness," he says.

James E. Davis, a senior lecturer in the chemistry department who teaches more than 300 students in Chemistry 5: "Introduction to Principles of Chemistry" during the academic year, says there is less to distract students during the summer.

There are fewer extracurricular activities, for instance, so many students devote themselves completely to the one course that they are taking.

Also, classes meet more frequently and for longer period of time than during the academic year because the term is much shorter.

Davis' summer school general chemistry course, Chemistry S-1ab: "General Chemistry," meets in lecture each day for more than two hours. The course also has two separate three-hour lab courses weekly, as well two different hour and half sections each week.

That's more than 20 hours of chemistry, every week.

Davis says that students and professors become close when they spend so much time together. Summer general chemistry becomes a bonding experience for all involved--the class eats lunch together each day in the Greenhouse.

"We are all there all the time," Davis says. "I get to know more students well over the summer than during the academic year."

Also, Davis is able to handpick his teaching fellows from undergraduates and recent graduates. During the academic year, TFs are assigned to Chem 5, also taught by Davis, without his input because spots are reserved for all first year graduate students in chemistry.

"I can take account of what I estimate to be talent and enthusiasm for teaching," he says. "Everyone who teaches for me is someone who really wants to do it."

Class size tends to be smaller in the summer too, allowing for more discussion.

There are 30 students in Damrosch's summer school course, as opposed to 170 students in his comparable academic year course, English 10b: "Major British Writers II."

For the Love of the Sport

Davis began teaching his summer school course in 1988, a year after he arrived at Harvard.

"My kids were starting college, and Harvard does not have a generous tuition benefit," Davis says.

"So I started teaching summer school as a way of paying for kids tuition," he says.

But his children have long since graduated college, and financial reasons are no longer salient.

"I keep doing it largely because I like doing it," he says.

For Davis, teaching and advising students are his lifeblood.

Unlike other professors in the sciences, Davis does not run a large laboratory research group, so he does not have to spend his summer on research.

According to Buck, many science research grants cap the amount of money professors can earn from teaching over the summer. Forced to stay in the lab, summer school teaching is not an option for such professors.

A Field Trip

But for Fash, his summer school course becomes his laboratory.

Fash says his summer experience is the one extended period of time that he is able to work in the field. But it is not the pure research that excites him.

Fash says it is the opportunity to lead students in the activities about which they have been learning during the academic year that truly excites him --even though only half of those who accompany him to Central America study at Harvard during the year.

In the field, the students are first trained in different methodologies of archaeology and how to approach the past. Then they put their knowledge to use on Mayan digs.

"I live for my field school," Fash says. "Many people assume that Harvard professors would want to spend their summer reading and thinking big thoughts in the Ivory Tower."

The Hiring

Buck says he's always looking for more senior professors to sign up for summer duty.

Each September, when Buck begins to prepare for the coming summer, he speaks to all the FAS department chairs.

"They have a pretty good idea of what the summer school population is like and what they want to learn," said Buck. "But also what ought to be taught in their fields."

The departments, then, provide him with suggestions about who in the department would like to teach courses.

"My first priority is to get as many senior Harvard Faculty teaching as I can," he said.

After Buck has retained all those Faculty associated with Harvard, he looks for faculty from other universities and colleges, in consultation with the appropriate Harvard department.

But those senior Harvard professors already sold on the experience don't need any encouragement to sign up again.

"I enjoy [summer school] a lot, and look forward to doing it again," Damrosch says.