Research & Ideas
Discover Harvard research, scholarship, and ideas shaping the world—from science and technology to policy, education, and the humanities.
Jason Furman: Capitalism Is Working. It Could Work Better.
On Open to Debate, the Harvard economist defended free market competition—with meaningful government involvement.
An intellectual history of the Cold War era
In a new book, Louis Menand probes the cultural currents of postwar America.
Peabody Museum Discovers Possible Slave Remains in Its Collections
“We must begin to confront the reality of a past in which academic curiosity and opportunity overwhelmed humanity,” Harvard president Lawrence Bacow wrote.
Fast-spreading coronavirus variants raise concerns
Despite vaccines, Harvard scientists warn, more-transmissible variants make COVID-19 harder to control.
Asset bubbles and credit growth precede financial crises.
Contrary to expert belief, some financial crises can be predicted—and perhaps averted.
Harvard Portrait: Cassandra Albinson
A curator takes a fresh look at portraits of aristocratic European women.
Paul Farmer on the West Africa Ebola Epidemic
The 2014 epidemic was rooted in centuries of exploitation and war, Paul Farmer argues.
At Home with Harvard: Election Day
In a year like no other, read a selection of Harvard Magazine stories on the forces that will shape the presidential election outcome.
Ask a Harvard Professor with Caroline Buckee
Anonymized location data can help guide strategies for protecting public health in a pandemic.
See Their Faces
Confronting “some of the most challenging images in the history of photography”
Review of Martin Puchner’s “The Language of Thieves”
A German American scholar is unsettled by an ancestor’s secret.