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Welcome to the First-Year Arts Program, Harvard Class of 2024!

The FAP Team is so excited to meet you all and to have the chance to help you explore all of the artmaking resources, learning opportunities and the community of artists at Harvard our College. With generous support from our colleagues at the Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA), and the Dean of Students Office (DSO), we have created a one-of-a-kind opportunity to ease you into the College experience through a language that truly speaks to us all: ARTS.                                

FAP covers seven artistic disciplines, or “threads,” consisting of Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Studio Arts and Theater Design.  This year, our usual one week intensive program has been spread over four weeks to allow for an easier pace of entry.

When safety protocols forced us to reevaluate our program this past spring, the Resident Artists, the Proctors, and several campus offices rallied together to brainstorm. What is the core of FAP? What opportunities does this situation provide that we otherwise might never have had? How can we as artists creatively problem solve to create a one of a kind experience? How can we respond to so many challenging forces in our society, find our voices, and learn together how to lift each other up? We have thought meaningfully about these questions and many others, and have come up with the three pillars of FAP; Community, Learning Opportunities, and Getting to Know Harvard.

Community:

• Our 16 Upperclass Proctors have been working hard to create an active summer social calendar that encourages First-Year students to get to know each other, many campus student arts leaders, as well as a large number of arts faculty and staff.
• For the first time, FAP will NOT have an application process, so anyone who would like to participate can!
• FAP will facilitate multiple social events for First-Years, like a virtual campus tour, speed friending, and more! 

Learning Opportunities:

• Masterclasses:  Seven 90-minute classes with our professionally working alumni Resident Artists.
• Keynote Dialogues: Seven 90 minutes moderated discussions and Q&A’s with nationally renowned artists.
• Workshops: Twenty+ smaller form classes that focus on specialty handson art making taught by faculty, staff, and alumni (Each FAPper will choose two).

Getting to know Harvard:

• Info Sessions: Seven 60-minute Information Sessions, addressing how to get engaged with art making opportunities on campus
• The FirstYear Musical: a 90-minute info session with last year’s creative team about what the First-Year Musical is, how to get involved, how they created their show, and how they adapted to transition the show into an online format, followed by a production of their show!

First-Year Arts Program (FAP)

Harvard College Dean of Students Office

1 Oxford Street

University Hall, Ground Floor South Suite

Cambridge, MA 02138