Annual Conference

The 2026 HILT Conference was held at the David Rubenstein Treehouse in Allston, MA on Friday, September 25, 2026. The annual conference convenes Harvard-affiliated faculty, staff, students, and other academic professionals to explore how we can make teaching and learning at Harvard more engaging, rigorous, and relevant.

This year’s conference marks a significant milestone: for the first time, our program is drawn directly from a university-wide Call for Proposals. The exceptional response from across Harvard reflects the profound dedication of our faculty, academic leaders, and instructional staff. As higher education navigates an era of rapid technological advancement and shifting paradigms, this event highlights the rigorous, resourceful work actively shaping our evolving classrooms. We will showcase these community-sourced innovations through dynamic plenary sessions, interactive workshops, and focused lightning rounds. Participants will explore practical applications of generative AI, the design of authentic assessments, and evidence-based strategies for fostering collaborative student teams. We invite you to join colleagues from across the university to exchange experimental practices and gather actionable insights to elevate teaching and learning during this transformative time.

Resources and session recordings will be available to view in the coming weeks.

Questions? Email hilt@harvard.edu. 

The Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) annual conference is an event designed to engage Harvard faculty, students, and academic professionals in a university-level dialogue about teaching and learning innovation.

The goals of the HILT Annual Conference are to:

• promote dialogue across Harvard’s campuses about educational innovation, including constructive discussion of provocative, thoughtful, and contrasting perspectives;
• provide examples of experimental approaches and research studies that generalize across academic fields, in particular, those that help faculty think through how to experiment in their own teaching with the practical insights that come from those examples; and
• expand the network of Harvard scholars, instructors, senior leaders, academic professionals, and students who are improving educational practice.

HILT strives to make our programs and activities inclusive for everyone. If you have questions about accommodations or access, please contact us via email at hilt@harvard.edu.