Research & Ideas

Discover Harvard research, scholarship, and ideas shaping the world—from science and technology to policy, education, and the humanities.

A man with glasses, wearing a black suit and white shirt, smiling against a dark background.

Jason Furman: Capitalism Is Working. It Could Work Better.

On Open to Debate, the Harvard economist defended free market competition—with meaningful government involvement. 

by Schuyler Velasco

Theresa Betancourt with children in Sierra Leone

Helping Those Most in Need

With support from the Center on the Developing Child, Harvard scholars aim to help some of the most vulnerable groups of children.

Who Was Lincoln, Really?

Honoring the two-hundredth anniversary of his birth, Lincoln scholars attempt to cut through myth and legend to reveal the real man.

Obama's Daunting International Agenda

Journalist David E. Sanger's new book outlines the huge international security challenges facing the new administration.

Rosa Estrella Ortega Roa has big plans for the unit where she lives with her two-year-old grandson. Although the walls and ceiling of her kitchen are still unfinished... [click the images below for more]

For Santiago's Poor, Housing with Dignity

An innovative housing initiative with deep Harvard ties lets families in Chile who once lived illegally become homeowners.

Does Thinking Make It So?

In The Cure Within, historian of science Anne Harrington explores the medical history of the mind-body connection.

by Erin O’Donnell

Counterterrorism and Democracy

The most effective ways to fight terrorism do not involve important tradeoffs between security and democratic principles.

Itinerant Scholar

The interests of Berkman Center fellow Lewis Hyde include Thoreau; writing poetry; and intellectual property in the digital age—and he manages to draw connections between them.

The slave trade shipped Africans to the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia; where victims ended up depended in part on which trade route their captors used. In total, the four routes ferried nearly 20 million people out of Africa.

Slavery’s Sway

Interdisciplinary economist Nathan Nunn explores the problem of African underdevelopment by drawing on—and unearthing—historical data about slavery.

by Paul Gleason

June 20, 2008, 9 a.m.: Looking toward the nearly-completed CCTV tower in Beijing's Central Business District

A Window on Beijing

The Olympics focused global attention generally on air pollution in China, and particularly on air quality in Beijing.

Shanghai Central

Harvard on July 1 opened the newest in an expanding network of international offices, in Shanghai, and is scheduled to launch another in Beijing...