Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow's summer reading list

Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow discusses what's on her reading list, as well as the line between professional and pleasure reading, and her family's literary history.

In a Q-and-A with the Boston Globe this week, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow discusses her summer reading list: it includes novels by Allegra Goodman ’89 and Gish Jen ’77, RF ’02; a biography of Louis Brandeis; short stories by Alice Munro; and a book about the refusal to forgive.

Minow also tells the Globe that everyone in her family, including her daughter, who just graduated from high school, has written a book. And she says she finds works of fiction just as important for her work as a law professor as books about legal issues: "I don't draw a sharp line between professional and personal reading. The novels are often as relevant to my professional life as the nonfiction. I find everything relevant to everything."

You might also like

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.

Bringing Korean Stories to Life

Composer Julia Riew writes the musicals she needed to see.

David Leo Rice on 'The Berlin Wall'

David Leo Rice explores the strange, unseen forces shaping our world.

Most popular

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Jodie Foster Honored at Radcliffe Day 2025

The actress and director discussed her film career and her transformative time at Yale.

Explore More From Current Issue

Brandon Terry, wearing a blue suit, standing before The Embrace, a large bronze sculpture of intertwined arms in Boston Common.

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

Julie Riew, wearing a white dress, playing guitar and singing into a microphone on stage.

Bringing Korean Stories to Life

Composer Julia Riew writes the musicals she needed to see.

Illustration of scientists injecting large syringe with mitochondria into human heart.

Do Mitochondria Hold the Power to Heal?

From Alzheimer’s to cancer, this tiny organelle might expand treatment options.