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Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898

September-October 2022

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Letters

That COVID cover, fracking, Radcliffe's welcome

The extraordinary promise of Harvard’s libraries

The Corporation’s role in communicating University strategies—and the magazine’s 125th

The College Pump

Photograph of William Randall playing guitar in his Lowell House room, c. 1970-1971

William Randall channels Andrés Segovia, in his Lowell House room, c. 1970-1971
Photograph courtesy of the subject

An affecting reunion, and Houghton Library accessible to all

Treasure

Images courtesy of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

Soured Seal Liver, Anyone?

In this Issue

Photograph of Phil Baczewki, a long COVID patient

Long COVID patient Phil Baczewki has been “fighting to get to a new normal every day.”

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Trying to understand infections’ persistent effects—and to develop cures

Photograph of Milman Parry in Paris, circa 1925-1928

Parry in Paris circa 1925-1928

Photograph courtesy of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, Harvard University.

 

Brief life of a Homeric scholar with a big idea: 1902-1935

Charles Berlin in the division's offices, surrounded by shipments of new material
Photograph by Stu Rosner

Charles Berlin and 60 years of collecting for Harvard Library

esperanza spalding, wearing a white jumpsuit with a "Life Force" logo, stands next to an upright bass

esperanza spalding performs at the 2018 New York Live Arts Gala, sporting her signature “Life Force” outfit.

Photograph by Noam Galai/Getty Images

The musician and "songwright" invites the listener in

Letters

That COVID cover, fracking, Radcliffe's welcome

The extraordinary promise of Harvard’s libraries

The Corporation’s role in communicating University strategies—and the magazine’s 125th

Right Now

Illustration of a two-car garage, with an electric vehicle on the left and an SUV on the right

Illustration by Vanessa Branchi

Targeting the wrong buyers—and producing more greenhouse-gas emissions

Illustration of a donkey turning a ship’s wheel away from high-rise apartment buildings in the background

Illustration by Phil Foster

The high costs of environmental, historic-preservation, and other good intentions

Illustration of two runners, one surrounded by components of a healthy diet, the other surrounded by high-sugar foods.

Illustration by Brian Gossett

Understanding “low response to training”—and searching for solutions for diabetics and others

Harvard Squared

blue skies and green fields and music center building

The music center, sited on a bucolic hill in Groton

© Photograph courtesy of Epstein Joslin Architects

A new regional music center opens in Groton, Massachusetts.

colorful painting detailing birch trees

Birches Over Pine (1966)

Painting courtesy of the Shelburne Museum

 Exhibit at Vermont's Shelburne Museum offers beauty and vitality

Array of squashes, tomatoes, and other local produce at Ward's Berry Farm

Ward's Berry Farm, a locally owned farm in Sharon, Mass., has plenty to offer its visitors.

Credit

Fun for the whole family in Sharon

Photograph courtesy of @MFAstudioartclasses

Opportunities for discovery this fall

John Harvard's Journal

Demoltion work on 60 Oxford Street

Photograph by Jim Harrison

 New home for the quantum science and engineering doctoral program.

News photo of President-designate Bacow, with Harvard necktie, at his announcement news conference, February 11, 2018

President-designate Bacow, with Harvard necktie, at his announcement news conference, February 11, 2018

Photograph by Kris Snibbe/Harvard Public Affairs and Communications

A post-pandemic transition, an early assessment, and the search for Harvard’s new leader

Photograph of Victor Clay

Victor Clay
Photograph by Jim Harrison

The new police chief introduces a new policing culture.

Illustration of Sharon Beckman ’80 swimming the English Channel

Illustration by Mark Steele

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Photographs of Erika Lee and Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, ethnic-studies appointees

Erika Lee and Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof
Photograph at left by Lisa Miller and photograph at right by Leisa Thompson

Ethnicity appointments, Radcliffe roster, faculty honorands, and more

A $200-million gift for the Salata Institute

illustration showing multiple hands dismantling a rifle

Illustration by Nicolas Ogonosky

Coming of age in an era of gun violence

Sofia Andrade and Josie Abugov

Photograph by Stu Rosner

The 2022-2023 Ledecky Undergraduate Fellows

Ellie Shahbo blocking a shot during practice

Shahbo lunges for a save during NCAA tournament warmup.

Photograph by Rick Oz/University of Michigan

Field hockey goalie Ellie Shahbo’s quiet dominance

Montage

A black and white cartoon shows a computer-user, with Earth’s globe for a head, stares into a screen, while spiders labeled “hate,” “misinformation,” “fear,” and “lies” crawl across his body, wrapping him in their webs.

Kallaugher’s “Dark Web” (2021), published in The Economist

Cartoon by Kal Kallaugher

Kevin Kallaugher on the art of editorial cartooning

Photo of Bobby Johnson outside of Superior Court in New Haven on September 4, 2015, released from prison after nine years for a murder he did not commit

Bobby Johnson outside of Superior Court in New Haven on September 4, 2015, released from prison after nine years for a murder he did not commit—central to Dawidoff’s dismaying urban narrative

Photograph by Esteban Hernandez/New Haven Register via Associated Press

Nicholas Dawidoff’s wrenching account of urban inequity

Juna Gjata with a microphone in front of her

Juna Gjata

Photograph by Stu Rosner

A lifelong struggle with body image led Juna Gjata to podcasting.

Image of Winslow Homer’s painting Fresh Eggs, 1874

Winslow Homer’s Fresh Eggs, 1874—an example of a new American art and artist, now reinterpreted

Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, gift of the W.L. and May T. Mellon Foundation

Recent books with Harvard connections

Image of Gardner Cox’s unconventional 1960 Felix Frankfurter portrait

Gardner Cox’s unconventional 1960 Frankfurter portrait

Portrait courtesy of the Harvard Law School Library, Historical & Special Collections

Justice Felix Frankfurter, to great controversy, said yes.

Alumni

David Andersson standing among his colorful painted portraits

David Andersson among his colorful painted portraits

Photograph courtesy of David Andersson

David Andersson’s quest to reshape the public realm

Miller-Hunn Awards announcement

Photo of Allyson Mendenhall outside

Allyson Mendenhall

Photograph by Jim Harrison

New Harvard Alumni Association president Allyson Mendenhall

The College Pump

Photograph of William Randall playing guitar in his Lowell House room, c. 1970-1971

William Randall channels Andrés Segovia, in his Lowell House room, c. 1970-1971
Photograph courtesy of the subject

An affecting reunion, and Houghton Library accessible to all

Treasure

Images courtesy of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

Soured Seal Liver, Anyone?