Thoreau returns to his studies at Harvard for his third term as a junior, taking the following classes:
- Greek composition taught by Cornelius C. Felton; reading Homer’s Iliad
- Latin composition and extemporaneous translation into Latin taught by Charles Beck; reading Juvenal
- Mathematics taught by Joseph Lovering; reading An experimental treatise on optics and Elements of electricity, magnetism and electro-magnetism, both by John Farrar
- English themes and declamation with Edward T. Channing
- English elocution with William H. Simmons
- English forensics with Joel Giles
- Italian taught by Pietro Bachi
“Henry Thoreau had things to complain about at Harvard in this, his junior year, besides the food. As a member of the unusually unruly class of 1837, he found several matters, academic and other, not to his taste. Nevertheless he did well in languages (Harvard had some broad offerings here, including even Portuguese), literature (he was to become one of the best-read men of his time), and mathematics.”
