On the cover: Sperm whales in Dominica
Photograph by Amanda Cotton/©Project CETI
Letters
Cambridge 02138
Climate change, COVID-19, housing inequity
Collateral Damage
Diminished academic freedom, endangered disciplines, lost academic focus, and more
Duplicate Copies: A note to readers
Rationalizing mailing to ensure service
July-August 2024
On the cover: Sperm whales in Dominica
Photograph by Amanda Cotton/©Project CETI
Features
Decoding the Deep
Project CETI’s pioneering effort to unlock the language of sperm whales
John H. Finley Jr.
Brief life of a masterful House Master: 1904-1995
Parks for Tomorrow
Bas Smets harnesses nature to cool cities.
Mechanical Intelligence and Counterfeit Humanity
Reflections on six decades of relations with computers
RIGHT NOW Harvard research and ideas
Vision and Justice
How photographs promote social justice
How Schizophrenia Resembles the Aging Brain
The search for schizophrenia’s biological basis reveals an unexpected link to cellular changes seen in aging brains.
Redefining Obesity
For obesity patients, improved treatments and a nuanced understanding of the disease may lead to better health.
John Harvard's Journal University news
Commencement 372 7/8
Harvard’s tumultuous year ends in modified festival rites, amid passionate protests.
Commencement Confetti
Seniors’ work plans, Sasha stylin’, reunion sonnet, and more
Honoris Causa
Harvard’s 2024 honorary degree recipients
The Week’s Words
Commencement rhetoric on threats to higher education, melding divergent views, doing good, and combating the loss of trust
Locked In
Addressing bias and hatred, challenging governance, reacting to protest, and trying to find a way forward
Alison Simmons
A philosopher on perception, the canon, and being “a minded thing”
The Yard Libraries, Reimagined
An ambitious plan for the next century of learning
Yesterday’s News
Headlines from Harvard’s history
News in Brief
New deans, Overseers’ leaders, retiring arts impresario, and more
Harvard Cambridge Scholars
Studying abroad
Centennial Medalists
Four alumni recognized for work
Harvard Medalists
Three honored on Alumni Day
Election Results
Newly elected Overseers and Harvard Alumni Association directors
Montage Books, creative arts, performance and more
A Leading en Plein Air Painter
Kathleen B Hudson ’09 captures the essence of the outdoors, from the Rocky Mountains to the beaches of Maui.
Part of the Ensemble
Broadway music director Madeline Benson on art and collaboration
On Being “Printerly”
An art historian analyzes an overlooked medium.
A Democratic Landscape
Michael Van Valkenburgh and the making of Brooklyn Bridge Park
Off the Shelf
Painting with Monet, birding with Thoreau, and other recent books
Harvard Squared What to do in Boston, Cambridge and beyond
Pioneer Valley Bounty
A local-food lovers’ paradise
Picturing Jazz
Works by Jason Moran at MASS MoCA
The MAD World
An illustrative retrospective at the Norman Rockwell Museum
Ride the Wave
Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned sailor, Boston offers plenty of ways to get out on the water this summer.
University People Harvardians far and wide
“The Ingenuity of an Architect”
Kimberly Dowdell influences her profession—and the built environment.
Harvard Fencers at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Eight Olympics-bound Harvard fencers
The Missing Middle
How overheated political attention warps campus life
