On the cover: Photograph by Supersizer/iStock images

Letters

Cambridge 02138

Readers’ views on immigration, the pandemic, the Electoral College, and more

The Road Ahead

President Bacow on Harvard’s challenge to federal efforts banning international students

Allston Options

Time to rethink the campus-development agenda?

September-October 2020

On the cover: Photograph by Supersizer/iStock images

Features

Active Grandparenting, Costly Repair

A biological anthropologist explains why and how exercise works to combat senescence.

by Daniel E. Lieberman

Near and Distant Objectives

Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman’s constitutionalism is a branch of the humanities.

by Lincoln Caplan

Claudia Jones

Brief life of an intersectional activist: 1915-1964

by Clarissa Atkinson

A Science Is Born

The “yeasty” times” when computer research grew at Harvard

by Harry R. Lewis

RIGHT NOW Harvard research and ideas

The Care and Feeding of a Nation

A holistic approach to food safety and food law

Unraveling the Universe through Puzzles

In his freshman seminar, Cumrun Vafa uses puzzles to help students understand complex physics.

Did Milk Build the Mongol Empire?

Ancient dental plaque points to the historical significance of dairy culture on the Eurasian Steppe.

John Harvard's Journal University news

The 40 Percent Solution

Campus constraints amid the coronavirus pandemic

Venkatesh Murthy

A brief look at what animals’ sense of smell reveals about the brain

Yesterday’s News

Headlines from Harvard’s history

University People

Honored professors, new House heads, and more

News Briefs

A gift policy, and peer institutions’ new climate schools

Brevia

New diversity and inclusion officer, new University Professor, and more

Changemaker in Admissions

David L. Evans made a difference for 50 years.

To Catch a Crawdad

The Undergraduate reassesses the rhythms of the natural world.

New Fellows

The 2020-2021 Ledecky Undergraduate Fellows

The “Bilingual” G.M.

Football-tested and data-centric, Andrew Berry takes the helm in Cleveland.

Montage Books, creative arts, performance and more

An Embodied Voice

Adriana Colón forges aural connections.

An Education Agenda

Derek Bok on curriculum reform

“A Kind of Justice in the World”

Ian K. Smith’s turn toward detective fiction

Chapter & Verse

A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

The Fire in “A Burning”

Megha Majumdar’s novel of India resonates in the United States.

No One Deserves a Spot at Harvard

Michael Sandel makes the case against meritocracy.

Off the Shelf

Recent books with Harvard connections

Harvard Squared What to do in Boston, Cambridge and beyond

“A Step Up from the Usual Beautiful”

Exploring the coastal wonders of Essex, Massachusetts

Cape Cod Wonders, By Bike

Swim, walk, and picnic along cycling routes    

Staff Pick: Boston Book Festival

A literary festival for children and adults

Royall House and Slave Quarters

Preserving black history as “an act of liberation”

Recenter Yourself in the Square

Suggestions for boosting emotional, mental, and physical wellness this fall

Almuni Harvardians far and wide

The Watchdog

Bharat Ramamurti ’03 oversees CARES Act spending—and pursues corporate reform.

“One Community, One Harvard”

HAA president John West promotes interconnections within the University.