On the cover: Commencement 2022, Thursday, May 26. Photograph by Jim Harrison

Letters

Cambridge 02138

Imposter syndrome, AI and authoritarianism, shopping week

Admissions Agenda

Thinking about how Harvard conducts admissions, as the Supreme Court prepares to weigh in

July-August 2022

On the cover: Commencement 2022, Thursday, May 26. Photograph by Jim Harrison

Features

“No Going Back to Normal”

Addressing the complexities of children’s mental health

by Jacob Sweet

Richard Evans Schultes

Brief life of a pioneering ethnobotanist and conservationist: 1915-2001

by Mark J. Plotkin

Investing vs. Harvesting

Why (and how) to help undergraduates make the most of their extracurriculars

by Richard J. Light , Allison Jegla

Telling Humanity’s Story through DNA

Geneticist David Reich rewrites the ancient human past.

by Jonathan Shaw

RIGHT NOW Harvard research and ideas

Fracking’s Deadly Toll

Harvard researchers find that fracking shortens the lives of elderly Americans living downwind of unconventional oil and gas wells.

Why Aid Cuts Didn’t End Worker Shortages

Why cutting jobless aid during the pandemic didn’t send workers scrambling for work

Can Infrastructure Remedy Social Ills?

A Design School class suggests how “social infrastructure” can meet societal needs.

John Harvard's Journal University news

Conferring and Confirming

Harvard’s 371st Commencement, and a celebration for the classes of 2020-2021

Honoris Causa

Harvard’s 2022 honorary-degree recipients

Commencement Confetti

Tidbits from a memorable, celebratory Harvard week

The Speeches 2022

President Bacow on humility, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on democracy and social media, and Attorney General Merrick Garland on civic engagement and threats to U.S. democracy

Harvard’s Ties to Slavery

A long-awaited, unsparing picture 

Tuning Pianos with Mariana Quinn

A former geologist follows her piano-tuner father’s footsteps.

Views from the Top

President Bacow and Senior Fellow Lee on Harvard today

Brevia

The EVP retires, new Overseers leaders, Stanford’s sustainability school, and more

The End of Shopping Week

After much debate, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes to replace shopping week with previous-term registration.

The Need for Communal Healing

Coming to terms with personal and pandemic grief

The Long Game

A standout golfer’s patient approach

Montage Books, creative arts, performance and more

An Astronomer's Desert Photography

Photographer Stephen Strom explores otherworldly landscapes

Beasts of the Big Screen

Jurassic World Dominion screenwriter Emily Carmichael on scripting Hollywood sci-fi epics

Off the Shelf

Recent books with Harvard connections

Disagreeing Well

Harvard debater Bo Seo writes about productive differences of opinion.

Aiming for Excellence

New books by Harvard experts on college preparation, rankings, student experiences, and institutional strategies

Harvard Squared What to do in Boston, Cambridge and beyond

Seafaring America

Visiting Mystic, Connecticut

Interpreting the Universe

Mildred Thompson's abstract vision

The Blue Garden

Newport's restored landscape 

Honoring a Life with Birds

A Concord Museum and Mass Audubon exhibit on William Brewster celebrates a new wildlife sanctuary 

You’ve Got Game

When it comes to recreational sports, the Boston area is tough to beat.

Almuni Harvardians far and wide

Wendy Lesser's "Threepenny Review"

The revered literary magazine editor discusses the writing (and reading) life.

Harvard-Cambridge Scholarships

Four seniors win scholarships to Cambridge University.

Harvard Medalists

Avarita L. Hanson, William F. Lee, Dwight D. Miller, and Tom Reardon