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July-August 2022

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Letters

Imposter syndrome, AI and authoritarianism, shopping week

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

The College Pump

Historic photo of Harvard Commencement 1915

From the age that is past­—Harvard Commencement 1915

Photograph courtesy of Harvard University Archives

Commencement venues through the ages

Treasure

Image courtesy of the Houghton Library Science Fiction Collection 

Science-fiction zines and the quest to save Star Trek

In this Issue

Ibrahim Barry with a basketball on a court

After feeling down during the early months of the pandemic, high schooler Ibrahim Barry found inspiration and support from his family.

Photograph by Stu Rosner

Addressing the complexities of children’s mental health

Photograph of Richard Evans Schultes at Chiribiquete conservation area

Schultes at Chiribiquete

Photograph courtesy of the Schultes Family and the Amazon Conservation team

 

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

Illustration of students choosing different paths through college

Illustration by Gwen Keraval

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

David Reich standing in his Harvard Medical School laboratory

Reich, in his laboratory at Harvard Medical School

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Geneticist David Reich rewrites the ancient human past.

Letters

Imposter syndrome, AI and authoritarianism, shopping week

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

Right Now

Illustration of a city downwind from a fracking well

Illustration by Matt Chinworth

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

Illustration of a professional woman at home, holding a baby
Illustration by Jungyeon Roh

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

Design rendering of East Side Coastal Resiliency Project in New York City

Design renderings for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project highlight its goals of physical and social resiliency: to protect citizens from floods and provide spaces to gather.

Project rendering by BIGNYC/Bjarke Ingels Group

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

Harvard Squared

Cruising on the schooner Argia 

Photograph courtesy of Argia Mystic Cruises

Visiting Mystic, Connecticut

Abstract image of swirls and darts in browns, reds, and grays

Helio-Centric III, 1993

Painting ©Mildred Thompson/Courtesy of the New Britain Museum of American Art

Mildred Thompson's abstract vision

Wide view of blue pools and lawns of the Blue Garden

Gazing across symmetrical reflecting pools of the restored Blue Garden

Photograph ©Millicent Harvery/Courtesy of the Blue Garden

Newport's restored landscape 

Landscape painting of wide sky and golden field with trees in the distance

Crow’s Nest (1984), by Lanford Monroe

Images courtesy of the Museum of American Bird Art/Mass Audubon

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

Photograph courtesy of Boston Ski & Sports Club

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

John Harvard's Journal

Law students at the Commencement exercises

Law graduates wield their gavels

Photograph by Jim Harrison

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

Urbanist William Julius Wilson and the ever-activist Gloria Steinem

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Harvard’s 2022 honorary-degree recipients

Graduates-to-be read the student newspaper, absent a University Gazette

Absent a printed Harvard Gazette, the Commencement crowd devoured The Crimson.
Photograph by Jim Harrison

Tidbits from a memorable, celebratory Harvard week

President Lawrence S. Bacow at Commencement May 26, 2022

President Lawrence S. Bacow at the 371st Commencement, May 26

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

Plaque memorializing slaves, placed on Wadsworth House in 2016

This plaque, placed on Wadsworth House in 2016, began Harvard’s public recognition of its legacy of slavery. A report issued in April significantly deepens and broadens that understanding.

Photograph by Niko Yaitanes/Harvard Magazine

A long-awaited, unsparing picture 

Mariana Quinn

Mariana Quinn

Photograph by Stu Rosner

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

President Bacow and Senior Fellow Lee on Harvard today

Illustration of football players hanging their laundry out to dry

Illustration by Mark Steele

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Retiring executive vice president Katie Lapp

Katie Lapp

Photograph by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Public Affairs and Communications

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

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

The illustration shows an empty rowboat floating away and a woman wading toward it, in chest-high water.

Illustration by Barbara Dekesyer

Coming to terms with personal and pandemic grief

Ma takes a drive during practice. If the past is any indication, it was a straight one.

Photograph courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

A standout golfer’s patient approach

Montage

San Juan and Colorado River junction
Aerial view of the San Juan and Colorado Rivers (2016)

Photograph by Stephen Strom

Photographer Stephen Strom explores otherworldly landscapes

A portrait phot of Emily Carmichael

Emily Carmichael

Photograph by Art Streiber for Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

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

A Mughal baby jacket, masterful textile work

Mughal masterwork: baby jacket, southeastern India. Cotton, hand painted, mordant and resist dyed.

Photograph courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Recent books with Harvard connections

From left, Megan Moten, Caress Russell, and Keisha Coleman practice debate, and civil discourse, at Wiley College.

Photograph by Donna McWilliam/Associated Press Images

Harvard debater Bo Seo writes about productive differences of opinion.

Illustration of students and challenges in college today

Illustration by Ryan Olbrysh

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

Alumni

Wendy Lesser standing happily among her books

Wendy Lesser

Photograph by Glenn Matsumura

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

Four seniors win scholarships to Cambridge University.

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

Announcing the winners

The College Pump

Historic photo of Harvard Commencement 1915

From the age that is past­—Harvard Commencement 1915

Photograph courtesy of Harvard University Archives

Commencement venues through the ages

Treasure

Image courtesy of the Houghton Library Science Fiction Collection 

Science-fiction zines and the quest to save Star Trek