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A Shift in the Created Order
Adapted by the author from the Convocation Address she delivered to the Divinity School community on September 19, 2005, at the opening of the academic year, half a century after the first female students matriculated there. The admission of women to …
Issue: May-June 2006
What Legacy?
Sometime in 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs will rule on whether Harvard College impermissibly discriminates against Asian-American applicants, the claim brought by Students for Fair Admissions. Her ruling, if ultimately appealed to …
Issue: January-February 2019
A Treasure Way Up High
The ceiling of Sanders Theatre soars so high, it makes you look up, says Raymond Traietti, assistant director of Memorial Hall. That’s when the grandest antique chandelier in all of Boston—a 1,040-pound, glowing dewdrop of nineteenth-century iron and …
Issue: January-February 2016
Events
THEATER. The American Repertory Theatre presents The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, at the Loeb Drama Center from June 19 through July 11. For tickets and showtimes, call 617-547-8300 or visit www.amrep.org. The Harvard-Radcliffe Summer Theatre …
On the Front Lines of the Coronavirus Emergency
When he’s not practicing wilderness medicine—caring for climbers with altitude sickness in the Himalayas or victims of the tsunami disaster in Japan— Stuart Harris is a physician in Massachusetts General Hospital’s (MGH) emergency department. That means …
Kennedy School Professor, Two Alumnae Receive the National Humanities Medal
Political scientist Robert Putnam , former dean and now Malkin professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, whose works include the bestseller Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community , was awarded the National Humanities …
How Not to Write about Minorities
When Viet Thanh Nguyen , RF ’09, was 11, he spent his weekends in San Jose on his family’s red velour couch watching war movies. One day, he turned on Apocalypse Now —perhaps an odd choice for a child who fled Vietnam as a four-year-old during the war. …
Harvard Public Health Dean Julio Frenk to Depart
Julio Frenk , who became dean of the Harvard School of Public Health (as it was then known) in January 2009 , has been appointed president of the University of Miami (UM), succeeding Donna Shalala, who announced her plan to retire last September . UM made …
Getting General Education Right?
Following a review committee’s sharp criticisms of the undergraduate General Education curriculum (Gen Ed) published last spring, its chair, Martignetti professor of philosophy Sean Kelly, on December 1 briefed the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) on …
A Cucumber Coil Conundrum
The cucumber tendril has long fascinated observant gardeners. This specialized plant stem grows straight at first—until it reaches the nearest trellis or fence post. Then it changes shape, wrapping around the object, twisting into tiny coils, and gaining …
Issue: March-April 2013
Will Cities Survive Another Pandemic?
F or most of human history, the link between cities and disease was deadly obvious. In 430 B.C.E, the Plague of Athens presaged the city-state’s downfall. Centuries later, when the bubonic plague spread from London to the Caspian Sea, it decimated …
Issue: January-February 2022
Sven Beckert Wins Bancroft Prize in History
Bell professor of history Sven Beckert has won a 2015 Bancroft Prize in history for his book Empire of Cotton: A Global History , the trustees of Columbia University announced this afternoon. His fellow winner is Greg Grandin, a professor at New York …
Curating a More Diverse Campus Environment
After more than a year of study and surveys, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Task Force on Visual Culture and Signage released its report today, with a series of recommendations for achieving a physical campus that better represents Harvard’s …
A Broadcast Cornucopia
There may not be another radio station in America that would air a show like the one WHRB (95.3 FM) broadcast in February of 2013: an hour and a half of music with no song longer than one minute. “It was the most stressful 90 minutes of my life,” says …
Issue: September-October 2015
AWOL from Academics
I recently started using an application that tracks my work, producing weekly summaries of time spent on each activity, such as homework, socializing, or eating a meal. I was surprised to find I spend far, far less time on my classes than on my …
Issue: March-April 2024