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A majority of Harvard University humanities classes require students to read Marxist, critical theory, or postmodern writers while only 17 percent ask students to read from conservative thinkers, a new analysis finds.
The research from the conservative Salient publication comes at the same time the Ivy League university is seeking to promote viewpoint diversity by hiring a handful of new professors.
The publication run by Harvard students reviewed five departments – history, history & literature, social studies, English, and sociology – which make up almost 70% of humanities students.
Of the sociology courses with publicly available syllabi, 79 percent require reading at least one Marxist or critical theory , while only 17 percent require reading a conservative source.
Results for other departments examined offer similarly stark numbers.
The history department requires Marxist reading for 63 percent of courses, whereas only 16 percent require conservative sources.
The English department requires Marxist sources for 67 percent of courses and only 11 percent of conservative sources.
The history-literature department requires Marxist sources for 87 percent of courses but requires no conservative readings.
The social studies department has a higher percentage of both left-wing readings and right-view views, requiring Marxist sources for 89 percent of courses, but only 41 percent require conservative sources.
“The root of the problem is not methodology and teaching style, but rather the content of courses throughout the humanities and social sciences,” The Salient said.
The College Fix reached out to Harvard’s media team, Vice President Peggy Newell, Provost John Manning, and Dean Hopi Hoekstra of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to ask for comments on the Salient report, but none responded to emails and phone calls in the past two weeks.
The results drew criticism from a Heritage Foundation researcher who has co-authored a book about the curriculum options at Ivy League universities.
“More important than simply presenting diverse viewpoints is ensuring that courses do not presume answers to fundamental questions,” Madison Doan told The Fix via email. “When they do, they undermine the very purpose of higher education: cultivating independent inquiry,” she said.
Doan is the co-author of “Slacking: A Guide to Ivy League Miseducation.”
Madison Doan recommended that Harvard “prioritize viewpoint diversity in faculty hiring.”
“A recent survey of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences found only 9 percent identify as conservative, compared to roughly 63 percent as liberal,” she said. “This imbalance reduces the likelihood that students encounter a full range of perspectives.”
Doan also recommended that Harvard should revisit the current curriculum model.
“Moving away from broad distribution requirements toward a more structured core curriculum, grounded in foundational texts and disciplines (such as history, literature, philosophy, math, the sciences), would ensure students engage shared intellectual materials and develop their own views from a common academic foundation,” she said.
Doan said Harvard also has an “F” rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression for its speech policies.
She said the school should adopt a statement in support of free speech.
“The durability of these reforms will depend, though, on whether institutions treat them as long-term commitments rather than responses to the current political environment, but prioritizing that durability is essential to fostering civil discourse worth preserving,” Doan said.
University officials suggest support for diverse viewpoints
Top university officials have made comments, and even taken a few actions, to promote different viewpoints at Harvard.
In December 2025, Harvard President Alan Garber spoke out against faculty activism and its effects on free speech for the Shalom Hartman Institute’s “Identity/Crisis Podcast,” The College Fix reported.
Garber reiterated his call for viewpoint diversity at Harvard’s Community and Campus Life Forum.
“Truth is rarely found in echo chambers,” he said, according to the student newspaper. “A community that embraces and encourages diverse viewpoints is a prerequisite for academic rigor.”
This year’s forum, previously known as the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, “reflected a broader shift in emphasis away from discussions around individual identity, with sessions focused on constructive dialogue and engaging across differences,” the Harvard Crimson reported.
Possibly as a result of these comments, it has been reported that Provost John Manning has been working to raise millions of dollars to hire 30 or so new professors to enhance viewpoint diversity.
A conservative who spoke at the university’s Institute of Politics also shared her positive experience.
The IOP invited conservative political podcaster and commentator Emily Jashinsky to a lunch discussion where she engaged with students about Neil Postman’s works on the media and how they relate to issues with social media.
“It’s amazing how much more free and open the discussion on campuses is compared with five years ago, so everyone I met was happy to work through tough questions,” Jashinsky said about the experience in an email to The Fix.
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