Summer Language Program 2024

June 10 to August 1, 2024

Madeline Levy studying German for SLP

SLP 2024 will run from Monday, June 10, to Thursday, August 1, 2024.

Apply Now

If you are a non-Harvard applicant, please click here to create your HarvardKey then return to this page to complete the Summer Language Program application using your new HarvardKey.

If you experience a technical issue, please contact ithelp@harvard.edu, or contact SLP if you have any further questions. 

About the Summer Language Program

Harvard Divinity School's Summer Language Program (SLP) has been in existence since 1960. Since the year 2020, the SLP shifted to remote/synchronous online instruction.

The Summer Language Program is an eight-week, intensive program in language study designed specifically for the curriculum in theological and religious studies taught with a focus on translation and reading comprehension in a foreign language.

The Summer Language Program supports the mission of HDS and the education of our students by allowing them the opportunity to engage in language study designed specifically for the curriculum in theology and religious studies. Summer language study enriches students' ongoing course work and grounds them for future work in academia and ministry. Students from other Harvard schools, other universities and colleges, and other countries participate in the SLP (online) to take advantage of our high-quality instruction and our unique curricular strengths. The 2024 program will be the fifth time that the SLP has been running completely remote and online. Read an interview with SLP director Karin Grundler-Whitacre.

The program does not grant degrees. However, students who are admitted to an HDS degree program may count SLP courses toward the course requirements under the normal course restrictions of their program, including specific language study limitations.

Courses

The 2024 Summer Language Program will offer the following languages for translation and reading (if there is sufficient enrollment by May 3, 2024):

  • Arabic—Classical
  • French for Reading in Theological and Religious Studies
  • German for Reading in Theological and Religious Studies
  • Greek—Elementary New Testament 
  • Greek—Intermediate New Testament and Hellenistic 
  • Hebrew—Elementary Biblical  
  • Hebrew—Intermediate Biblical
  • Latin—Christian 
  • Pali—Elementary
  • Spanish for Reading in Theological and Religious Studies
  • Syriac—Elementary (not offered in 2024, next offered in 2025)

Requests for Transcripts

All enrolled nondegree participants can request an official record of their enrollment via Parchment two weeks after the end of SLP. HDS degree candidates and doctoral students in the Committee on the Study of Religion may see their information via the my.harvard portal.

Accommodations

Students who feel they may need accommodations based on the impact of a disability should contact Drema Bowers, assistant director for student support, 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.