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November-December 2010

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Letters

Mill girls, mushroom mirth, folklore myths

The College Pump

Delicacies from Rommel's chef at Stillman Infirmary, plus gastronomical lectures from Ferran Adrià and peers

Treasure

The <em>London Primer</em> (1818)

A sampler from the Harvard University Library's online collection <em>Reading: Harvard Views of Readers, Readership, and Reading History.</em>

In this Issue

Amy Cuddy at Harvard Business School’s Baker Library

Amy Cuddy probes snap judgments, warm feelings, and how to become an “alpha dog.”

Alice Paul

Brief life of a pioneering suffragist: 1885-1977

Monimbo, Nicaragua, 1979

Photographer Susan Meiselas’s quest to understand via images. With audio from the interview.

Illustration by Greg Spalenka

Deliberative democracy, philosophical pragmatism, and Barack Obama's conception of American governance

Letters

Mill girls, mushroom mirth, folklore myths

Right Now

Thick bunches of nerves leave the brain or spinal cord and branch intricately within muscle (fibers of which can be seen running vertically in the background at right). The inset image shows individual axons (yellow) connecting to single synapses (red). The red stain is a snake venom that binds only to muscle receptors; poisonous kraits use it to immobilize their prey.

Caloric restriction and exercise boost mental acuity and motor ability by rejuvenating synapses.

Raj Chetty

An economist finds that good kindergarten teachers boost pupils' earnings later in life.

Stars escaping the Milky Way help Warren Brown and other astronomers map the distribution of matter in our galaxy.

Tactile sensations change perceptions, says psychologist Christopher Nocera.

New England Regional

Corky White relies on her local farmers’ market in Somerville, Massachusetts, for the foods she cooks, pickles, and preserves.

A cookbook writer and anthropologist, apple ice wine makers, and a fermentation aficionado celebrate New England food.

Blue Flower at the American Repertory Theater

Late fall happenings at and around Harvard

Among Vee Vee’s charms are its boldly colored walls (Benjamin Moore’s “Autumn Cover”), a signature touch for co-owner Kristen Valachovic, an interior designer before restaurant life took hold.

Vee Vee in Jamaica Plain turns out innovative food that is fresh, healthy, delicious, and modestly priced.

John Harvard's Journal

Harvard renews an older building to create new labs in Cambridge for stem-cell research.

Drew Faust and Charlie Gibson in conversation

Early in the fall term, Drew Faust reviews Harvard’s improved finances, University governance, scientific misconduct, and other issues.

Marshall Ganz

The community organizer, who once worked with César Chávez, now teaches at the Kennedy School.

An investigation of psychology professor Marc Hauser's lab results in a misconduct finding—and questions for the field of animal cognition.

A year after declining $11 billion, investment returns on Harvard’s endowment turn positive.

Fundraising remains strong, and the financial report and faculty retirement decisions are pending.

Headlines from Harvard history

An 1866 self-portrait, when James was about 24 years old

A conference and an exhibition at Houghton Library showcase the legacy of the pioneering psychologist and philosopher.

Amy Gutmann

A groundbreaking undergraduate concentration celebrates half a century.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean Michael D. Smith looks beyond financial constraints to academic priorities, from better teaching to renovated undergraduate Houses.

Jan Ziolkowski

A new series from Harvard University Press reintroduces works that mattered in the Middle Ages. With excerpts from two of the works.

Larry Summers to return, Mahindra Humanities Center, Ph.D. programs, financial aid, appointments, and other University news

The Undergraduate comes to terms, on her own terms, with feminism.

Cross-country captain Daniel Chenoweth running hill repeats at Fresh Pond

Senior cross-country captain Daniel Chenoweth outruns the competition.

The new Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium hosts its first games.

Quarterback Andrew Hatch’s forte is passing, but Brown’s defenders kept him on the run in a 29-14 blowout.

Quarterback Andrew Hatch returns to the Harvard fold.

A former cross-country-man’s sonnet honors fellow runners.

Montage

Elizabeth Whittaker, at her office in Boston, with basswood architectural models for residential and commercial structures

Elizabeth Whittaker’s beautiful buildings look expensive, but aren’t.

The young Emily Dickinson, in a daguerreotype made in late 1846 or early 1847

In a new critical work, Helen Vendler assesses one of Emily Dickinson’s deceptively simple early poems.

In the Sôcôla kitchen, sisters Wendy (left) and Susan Lieu dip a few dozen chocolate truffles laid out on baking parchment.

Two San Francisco sisters add Asian and other original flavors to their gourmet confectionery.

“I like people to stand on tiptoe when they read my work,” says Bernard. “Not that it’s difficult to understand—but I’m trying to articulate complex ideas and feelings.”

Romanticism, a new collection by poet April Bernard, mixes disillusionment with emotion and playfulness.

A texting break, in Shanghai. Layers of tradition and modernity make it rewarding—and essential—to learn about China through its languages.

Recent books with Harvard connections

National Lampoon demolished icons of both the Left and Right. Here, a cream pie to Che Guevara’s face on a 1972 cover.

Rick Meyerowitz’s Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead is a compendium of the best pieces from the National Lampoon.

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Alumni

James Snyder stands in front of the exterior dome of the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.

American James Snyder ’73 recreates an Israeli national landmark.

Michael Baskin (above) and Ryan Schell

Seniors Michael Baskin and Ryan Schell are honored for contributing to the quality of life in their undergraduate Houses.

Six alumni are honored for their outstanding service to the University through alumni activities.

Late fall Shared Interest Group events

Harvard alumni may sign in to view class notes and obituaries published in the print edition of this magazine.

The College Pump

Delicacies from Rommel's chef at Stillman Infirmary, plus gastronomical lectures from Ferran Adrià and peers

Treasure

The <em>London Primer</em> (1818)

A sampler from the Harvard University Library's online collection <em>Reading: Harvard Views of Readers, Readership, and Reading History.</em>