Certificate in Teaching Language and Culture

Since the fall of 2025, the Harvard Language Center has hosted the Certificate in Teaching Language and Culture, through which GSAS PhD students (Teaching Fellows) and Teaching Assistants may demonstrate their commitment to excellence in the teaching of language(s) and culture(s).

The certificate is open to GSAS PhD students and TAs who teach courses in language, culture, and literature in Harvard College and who want to deepen their knowledge of language pedagogy.

Teaching Language and Culture participants must fulfill requirements in three areas: teaching, research and practice, and professionalization.

Please plan ahead to make the most of each component of the Certificate; they are meant to be completed over time, especially the departmental pedagogy courses, which are offered on different schedules. If you have questions about any of the requirements, please contact us at language@fas.harvard.edu. Please find more information on the Canvas course page.

Apply for the Certificate | View the list of all Bok Certificate in Teaching Language and Culture recipients

Teaching

Teach a minimum of two semesters of foreign language/culture/literature courses at Harvard.

At least one of these courses must be a language course.

Research and Practice

To fulfill the course requirements, you must:

  • take one (1) departmental foundational pedagogy course (example courses listed below),
  • take one (1) advanced language pedagogy course (departmental offering or GSE language-focused course, e.g., ROM-LANG205, EDU T549, LING10, or equivalent),
  • attend three (3) scholarly presentations about language pedagogy and the teaching of languages, cultures, and literatures. These presentations may include Harvard Language Center presentations, invited speakers and department lectures such as the RLL Language Program Speaker Series, virtual or in person conference presentations or panels, events held by an affiliated language organization such as the The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning, or similar entity. (See below for more information.)

Examples of foundational pedagogy courses:

ROM-LANG 210: Language Pedagogy: Theories, Practices, and Approaches
CELTIC 350: Teaching Colloquium
CLASSICS 360: Teaching Colloquium
CHINESE 280: Teaching Chinese as a Foreign/Second Language (J. Liu)
GERMPHIL 280: Approaches to Foreign Language Teaching (Parkes)
LINGUISTICS 173: Structure of Japanese (W. Jacobsen)
SLAVIC 126: Structure of Modern Russian (S. Clancy)
One advanced language pedagogy course:
ROM-LANG 230: Teaching Languages, Cultures, and Literatures
EDU T549: Technology-enhanced Language Learning and Teaching (N. Mills)
Equivalents may be approved from Linguistics or the Graduate School of Education.
 

One advanced language pedagogy course:

In addition to advanced language pedagogy courses offered within Harvard language departments, language-focused courses offered through the Linguistics department and the Harvard Graduate School of Education Language and Literacy program may also fulfill this requirement. (Search for courses in the course catalog. Contact Nicole Mills mills@fas.harvard.edu for course approval.)

Examples:

EDU T549: Technology-enhanced Language Learning and Teaching 
ROM-LANG 205: Pedagogies of Liberation
LING 10: Language 
HGSE: Language and Literacy Development 

Scholarly presentations:

Please visit our Language Center Events page to determine which offerings will fulfill this requirement. You may also sign up for our mailing list, which will also alert you of external events that qualify as language pedagogy-focused events.

Professionalization

Submit a teaching portfolio that you design to support your individual professional and teaching goals. Your portfolio should highlight your teaching philosophy, practices, and development as a language educator.

For the purposes of the Certificate, your teaching portfolio should include at least three artifacts that showcase your teaching of languages and cultures. These might include:

  • Teaching statement or philosophy
  • Prospective syllabus 
  • Sample assignment prompt
  • Sample lesson plan or lesson materials
  • PowerPoint or other presentation materials from a lesson
  • Teaching video or recording of a class session
  • Assessment materials, such as a rubric, exam, quiz, or feedback template
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion statement 
  • Examples of technology-enhanced or AI-supported language teaching

You are not expected to include all of these. Choose artifacts that represent your strengths, interests, and growth as a language teacher and that will be useful for your future teaching and professional goals. 

You will also be asked to submit a reflective essay of approximately 1000 words that integrates what you have learned from your experience pursuing the Certificate in Teaching Language(s) and Culture(s). Candidates should write a reflective narrative about their trajectory through the certificate, incorporating any or all of the following: the connections between the pedagogy courses, Language Center events, and scholarly presentations attended; theory-meets-practice applications to their instruction; and/or particularly noteworthy take-aways that they will apply to their future teaching of languages, cultures, and literatures.

Certificate in Teaching Language and Culture Recipients

2025-2026

Clémence Fiastre, Romance Languages and Literatures
Martin Dupuy, Romance Languages and Literatures

2024-2025

Valentine Bayard, Romance Languages and Literatures
Lucia Casiraghi, Romance Languages and Literatures
Luby Kiriakidi, Classics
Lucie Liu, Romance Languages and Literatures

2023-2024

Juan Manuel Arias, Romance Languages and Literatures
Quentin Bourgault, Romance Languages and Literatures
Ricardo Castro, Romance Languages and Literatures
Anselme Dojat-Gouttard, Romance Languages and Literatures
Carmen Fajardo Rojas, Romance Languages and Literatures
Julio Fernández Meza, Romance Languages and Literatures
María José Guerrero, Romance Languages and Literatures
Anna Ivanov, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Jacob Meister, Comparative Literature
Israel Mireles Cristino, Romance Languages and Literatures
Ruymán Pérez Ramos, Romance Languages and Literatures

 

A list of recipients of the Certificate from 2019-2023 can be accessed here.