February 26, 2010

Harvard Headlines: Derek Bok, Ellen Langer, Lawrence Lessig

A review of Bok's new book, The Politics of Happiness; a profile of positive-psychology pioneer Langer; Lessig's suggestions for reforming Congress

This week's Sunday papers contained several Harvard-linked items. Here's the roundup:

The New York Times Book Review had a review of Derek Bok's new book, The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being. (Click here to listen to the 2007 Baccalaureate address, in which President Emeritus Bok reminded graduating seniors that pursuing material rewards would not bring happiness; one needs ethical content in one's work.)
The Boston Globe's Ideas section profiled Ellen Langer, pioneer of the positive psychology movement, the first female tenured professor in Harvard's psychology department, the author of the bestselling book Mindfulness (1989), and the subject of an upcoming feature film starring Jennifer Aniston. (Langer's work was featured in the 2007 Harvard Magazine article "The Science of Happiness."
And the Ideas blog (excerpted in the Sunday Globe) featured professor of law Lawrence Lessig's suggestions for reforming Congress, first articulated in an essay in The Nation, "How to Get Our Democracy Back." (In 2000, Lessig wrote for Harvard Magazine about values and civil liberties in cyberspace.)

The program will focus on the U.S. Congress and the separation of powers in its first year.

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

Before a data center is built, Francesca Dominici and Le Xie aim to predict costs to the grid, the air, and the neighbors next door.

The University will compensate families of those whose remains were sold and establish a scholarship to honor anatomical donors.

The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens changed the course of legal history. Here’s why it’s been fodder for countless classroom debates.

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Former Indiana University president Thomas Ehrlich looks back on curriculum, co-education, and other major trends.

The Harvard graduate’s roundtable talk show touches on hot button issues from religion to sex.

Chloe Chapin trains her Broadway costume designer’s eye on the history of men’s fashion.