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Namwali Serpell’s Novel-In-Progress
During a lively virtual reading on Wednesday afternoon, author Namwali Serpell offered listeners a taste of her newest novel-in-progress. A fiction writer, essayist, and critic whose star has been rapidly rising, Serpell joined Harvard this fall as a …
The Undergraduate: The Scientist’s Daughter
My mother has a theory on exactly where she went wrong. We can pinpoint the moment precisely: I was eight, and she brought home an oversized, illustrated children’s anthology of Greek myths. I became obsessed. During long car rides, I would retell the …
Issue: July-August 2015
Engineering Life
S ynthetic biology, or the application of engineering principles to the design of life, presents world-changing prospects. Could components of a living cell function as tiny switches or circuits? How would that allow biomedical engineers to build …
Issue: January-February 2020
Will Global Democracy Survive?
“Ten years from now , there could be crises that make 2020 look like a garden party,” said Rockefeller professor of Latin American studies and professor of government Steven Levitsky last night. “There could be a fair amount of violence. There could be a …
Update: Harvard versus Penn
The escape artists from Cambridge did it again at Philadelphia's Franklin Field on Saturday. With Penn threatening at the Harvard 12-yard line and 10 seconds remaining, senior cornerback Ryan Barnes came up with a pass interception—his third of the …
Crimson in Beijing
Harvard athletes have a long history of Olympic competition, beginning with the first modern games at Athens in 1896 (see “The Unexpected Olympians ,” July-August 1996, page 36). This summer, 10 current and former Crimson athletes turned in memorable …
Issue: November-December 2008
Update: Harvard versus Lehigh
A stunning defensive play was the game-saver in a 27-24 win over Lehigh at the Stadium on October 18. A late drive had brought the visitors to Harvard’s 14-yard line. With a first down and 46 seconds to play, sophomore quarterback J.B. Clark set up to …
An Inclusive “One Harvard”
At a time when the world is so polarized, says tech business leader and entrepreneur Vanessa Liu ’96, J.D. ’03, Harvard’s global and intergenerational connections can help alumni “significantly impact and shape the world.” In fact, she adds, “It’s hard to …
Issue: September-October 2021
Yesterday's News
1915 Undergraduate protests against beer at class banquets prompt Bulletin editors to note that "the increase of abstinence and temperance throughout American society has become almost a commonplace observation." Illustration by Mark Steele 1920 A …
Issue: January-February 2005
Off the Shelf
I’ll Drink to That: Beaujolais and the French Peasant Who Made It the World’s Most Popular Wine , by Rudolph Chelminski ’56 ( Gotham Books, $27.50 ). “Everyone knows Beaujolais, or thinks he does,” writes the author. After reading this saga of the wine …
Issue: November-December 2007
Flexible Movies
“ You never see cartoons where there are bad outcomes,” says Michelle Crames, M.B.A. ’03, founder and CEO of Lean Forward Media in Los Angeles. “But bad outcomes are often the result of bad decisions.” Last year, Crames’s company released its first …
Issue: May-June 2007
Uncommon Chef
In the summer of 2003, a new eatery popped up among the numerous meat-and-potato diners and Sunday-morning-Bloody-Mary bars in Spooner, a northwestern Wisconsin town with a population of fewer than 3,000. A cheerful red rooster was painted on the window …
Issue: July-August 2006
Bats, In Fact
Poor bats . For so long, they’ve been maligned and misunderstood. They’ve starred in witchy medieval stories and gothic tales, from Dracula to Batman. They’ve symbolized the depths of evil and the underworld, depicted as blood-sucking, hair-tangling …
Issue: January-February 2024
Potholes, Pensions, and Politics
In January , the newly elected mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, J.D. ’80, donned work gloves and safety goggles, picked up a shovel, and spread hot, smoking asphalt over a gaping pothole on Neuens Road in West Houston. As news reporters watched, the …
Issue: May-June 2016
Money and Military Recruiting
With a fiscal gun at the University’s head, Harvard Law School (HLS) has reversed its position on military recruiting on its campus. The armed services now have access to students through the Office of Career Services (OCS), rather than through informal …
Issue: November-December 2005