Jay Harris joined the Faculty in 1989 as an assistant professor in Jewish Studies, and has previously served on the Committee on the Study of Religion since 1989. He became the Harris K. Weston Associate Professor of the Humanities in 1991. He has taught at Columbia and Princeton universities, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Jewish Theological Seminary. At Harvard, he has taught "Introduction to Judaism," "Modern Jewish Religious Movements," "Studies in Jewish Historiography," "Theories of Jewish Nationalism," and several other courses. He is a member of the editorial boards of Jewish Quarterly Review and Jewish Book Annual, and has written books and articles on Jewish history, literature, and modern Judaism.

Jay Harris is the Harry Austryn Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies, as well as, Dean of Undergraduate Education and Honorary Associate and Former Master of Cabot House. He directs doctoral dissertations and advanced reading and research for doctoral candidates.

Professor Harris is currently teaching.