# Joint and Double Concentrations

**Source**: https://histlit.fas.harvard.edu/joint-concentrations
**Parent**: https://histlit.fas.harvard.edu/hl90s

History & Literature welcomes joint concentrations, double concentrations, and secondary concentrations, and it aspires to make the integration of two concentrations as seamless as possible. This page offers an overview of how joints, doubles, and secondaries work in History & Literature, but students are encouraged to speak with an adviser for more specific information.

## Double Concentrations

History and Literature is an honors concentration that expects students to complete a senior thesis, so it makes sense for History and Literature to be designated as the "honors field" in a double concentration. Only two courses may double count in both concentrations. Students may produce theses in both concentrations, but students receive honors in only one concentration. If there is a compelling reason to designate the other concentration as the "honors field," please see the Director of Studies.

## Joint Concentrations

In past years, History & Literature students have pursued joint concentrations with:

- [African American Studies](https://aaas.fas.harvard.edu/african-american-studies-track)
- [Anthropology](https://anthropology.fas.harvard.edu/joint-concentration)
- [Art, Film, and Visual Studies](https://afvs.fas.harvard.edu/how-to-concentrate)
- [Classics](https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/undergraduate)
- [Computer Science](https://csadvising.seas.harvard.edu/concentration/combine/#joint)
- [East Asian Studies](https://eas.fas.harvard.edu/ways-concentrate)
- [English](https://english.fas.harvard.edu/guide-concentrators)
- [Folklore and Mythology](https://folkmyth.fas.harvard.edu/concentration-requirements)
- [Germanic Languages and Literatures](https://german.fas.harvard.edu/)
- [History and Science](https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/joint-concentration)
- [History of Art and Architecture](https://haa.fas.harvard.edu/)
- [Music](https://music.fas.harvard.edu/undergraduate-concentration-guide/)
- [Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations](https://nelc.fas.harvard.edu/joint-concentration-other-departments)
- [Philosophy](https://philosophy.fas.harvard.edu/concentration)
- [Religion](https://studyofreligion.fas.harvard.edu/joint-concentration)
- [Romance Languages and Literatures](https://rll.fas.harvard.edu/common-requirements)
- [Slavic Languages and Literatures](https://slavic.fas.harvard.edu/pages/basic-requirements)
- [Theater, Dance, and Media](https://tdm.fas.harvard.edu/requirements)
- [Women, Gender, and Sexuality](https://wgs.fas.harvard.edu/concentration)

Course requirements in the History & Literature portion of the joint concentration will be determined by the Director of Studies. Courses in both the primary and allied programs are taken into consideration in calculating a joint concentrator's concentration GPA. Degree recommendations for joint concentrators take into consideration thesis readings from both concentrations, and a faculty member from the other concentration is invited to participate in the senior oral exam that confirms honors in History & Literature.

Joint concentrators are expected to complete all History & Literature requirements, but permission can be granted to substitute one semester of the History & Literature tutorial with a tutorial from the other concentration. For example, joint concentrators in History & Literature and Studies in Women, Gender, and Sexuality have the option of taking the WGS junior tutorial in place of the spring semester of History & Literature's junior tutorial, though students may also take both.

History & Literature must be the primary concentration in any joint plan of study, except when the student plans to pursue a creative senior thesis. In that case, the department providing artistic training may be the primary concentration, and History & Literature will be the allied field. As a result, students pursuing creative theses will follow the thesis deadlines and honors process of the department providing artistic training, and those students will not take History & Literature's oral exam.

For example, to pursue a performance-based thesis as a joint concentrator in History & Literature and Theater, Dance, and Media, TDM would be the primary concentration, and History & Literature would be the allied field. The thesis would follow TDM’s process, with one modification: the written component should reflect History & Literature's methods of research, analysis, and argumentation. As such, it should be 5,000-10,000 words, excluding notes and bibliography, to represent the substantial work undertaken in History & Literature. Along the same lines, History & Literature students pursuing a studio or film/video thesis as part of a joint concentration in Art, Film, and Visual Studies would follow AFVS's process as primary concentrators in AFVS, with a 5,000-10,000 word written component that represents the work undertaken in History & Literature. Joint concentrators pursuing creative writing theses as primary concentrators in English also submit a statement (of any length) situating the project in the context of History & Literature coursework.

## Secondary Fields

Students are also welcome to pursue a secondary field in addition to their concentration in History & Literature. Only one course may count for both the secondary field and the concentration. While students are welcome to discuss with their History & Literature tutors how a particular secondary field relates to their plan of study, secondary fields are ultimately administered by the granting department or program. In past years, History & Literature students have pursued secondary fields in:

- [African American Studies](https://aaas.fas.harvard.edu/african-american-studies-track)
- [Archaeology](https://anthropology.fas.harvard.edu/secondary-fields)
- [Classical Civilizations](https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/secondary-field)
- [East Asian Studies](https://ealc.fas.harvard.edu/secondary-concentration-area-track)
- [Economics](https://economics.harvard.edu/pages/secondary-field)
- [Ethnicity, Migration, Rights](https://emr.fas.harvard.edu)
- [Film Studies](https://ves.fas.harvard.edu/undergraduate-secondary-field)
- [Global Heath & Health Policy](https://globalhealth.harvard.edu/secondary-field-global-health-and-health-policy)
- [Government](https://gov.harvard.edu/secondary-field)
- [Social Anthropology](https://anthropology.fas.harvard.edu/secondary-fields)
- [Spanish](https://rll.fas.harvard.edu/pages/secondary-field)
- [Theater, Dance & Media](https://tdm.fas.harvard.edu/secondary-field-requirements)

## Jolin Chan '25

**Joint concentration:** Anthropology

**Field worksheet:** [Ethnic Studies](https://histlit.fas.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum4926/files/2025-08/ethnic_studies_field_worksheet%20-%20Jolin%20Chan.pdf)

**Sophomore essay title:** Cold War, Served Hot: The Legacy of Julia Child on the Cultural and Culinary Cold War

**Junior essay title:** “Sunshine to a Drab Land”: Fashioning First Ladies, Diplomacy, and Media During “The Week That Changed the World”

**Senior thesis title:** Chinese Restaurants and White Picket Fences: Language, Race, and Place-making in “The First Suburban Chinatown”

## Amber Levis '25

**Joint concentration:** East Asian Studies

**Field worksheet:** [Modern World: Speculative East Asia](https://histlit.fas.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum4926/files/2025-08/Levis%2C%20Modern%20World%20Field%20Worksheet_0.pdf)

**Sophomore essay topic:** Gaze as Resistance in Bad Bunny’s “El Apagón” and Sofía Gallisá Muriente’s “B-Rolls”

**Junior essay topic:** *Cao Fei’s RMB City: China and the End of the World*

**Senior thesis title:** Manufacturing Modernity: The 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony and\
China’s Rebranding

## Tiffany Lau '19

**Joint concentration:** TDM

**Field worksheet:** [Modern World: Protest in Literature and Dance](/file_url/1092)

**Sophomore essay topic:** Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement

**Junior essay topic:** *I, Tonya* and media representations of figure skating

**Senior thesis title:** Beyond Performance and Control: Triangulating History, Theory, and Identity in *figures*