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Staging Memory
Odysseus does not want to remember the Trojan War. He does not want to remember the bloody battles, the cunning horse, or the ruthless sacking. But the memories keep creeping in. Should he head home, facing his past in its full truth, or remain adrift? …
Arts and Sciences: Better Budget, Burgeoning Ambitions
Dean Michael D. Smith’s annual report for fiscal year 2012 —previewed with Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) colleagues at their October 2 meeting and published two days later—declares victory and outlines a future campaign. Stabilizing Finances The …
The State of Black America
During a searching discussion Thursday evening at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) on the “State of Black America,” historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad opened with a trenchant warning: “We are facing uncharted waters.” Surveying the rise of Trumpism and the …
People-Powered Journalism
With 20 years of hindsight, to many the U.S. war in Afghanistan looks tragically ill-conceived. But in the wake of 9/11, critics of the invasion, when they were heard at all, were regarded as naïve, even un-American. Amy Goodman ’84, host of the …
Issue: November-December 2021
Harvard Professor Scott Kominers on NFTs and Brands
In the fifteenth century, Gutenberg’s press revolutionized the process of distributing written text. Today, we have non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Like the printing press, NFTs have the ability to fundamentally change the spread of information. Yet, while …
A Sensitive Census
The revelation last autumn that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) had made offers of tenured professorships to only four women during academic year 2003-2004—fewer than in any year save one during the preceding decade—set off the debate …
Issue: September-October 2005
Campus Survey: Sexual Assault, Harassment Remain Serious Problems
On October 15, Harvard released the results of a survey intended to estimate the prevalence of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct among its undergraduate, graduate, and professional-school students. The survey, conducted during the spring of …
N.P. Narvekar Appointed New Harvard Management Company Leader
A week after Harvard Management Company (HMC) reported continued disappointing investment returns for the University’s $35.7 billion endowment , the University announced that N.P. Narvekar, chief executive officer of Columbia University Investment …
Nitin Nohria to Conclude Business School Deanship
Nitin Nohria, dean of Harvard Business School (HBS) since 2010, announced yesterday that he will step down at the end of the academic year, concluding a decade of service. His announcement comes one week after the memorial service for John McArthur , …
Defying Limits
One spring day in Las Vegas, adventure-writer David Roberts ’65 set out for a round of golf with Alex Honnold, the world’s foremost free-soloist. More than a generation apart, the two men have shared a fanatical drive to ascend, and grew close while …
Issue: January-February 2021
Harvard Appoints New Endowment President and CEO
A day after Harvard Management Company (HMC) reported endowment returns for the fiscal year ended last June 30, the appointment of its new president and CEO, Stephen Blyth, Ph.D. ’92, was announced. Blyth is managing director and head of public markets …
Christopher Walsh Wins Welch Award in Chemistry
Christopher T. Walsh , Kuhn professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, has been named co-winner of the Welch Award , one of the most prestigious honors for research in chemistry. He and MIT's JoAnne Stubbe were …
Cartography Animated
Mapmaking, especially before the Enlightenment, had as much to do with imagination as with scientific fact. Renaissance cartographers depicted strange, quasi-mythological creatures in the far reaches of the ocean. Imposing megafauna trod across early …
Issue: March-April 2021
Study Finds “Cultural Gap” between Harvard Athletics and Academics
A study of the Harvard Department of Athletics, released today, highlighted a “cultural and structural gap” between athletics and academics at Harvard. Commissioned in the fall of 2019 by Claudine Gay, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the …
Harvard Capital Campaign Nearing $6.5-Billion Goal
Although the University has not issued a year-end 2015 update, it appears that The Harvard Campaign has become the largest-grossing higher-education fundraising effort on record. Indeed, individual schools’ results (see “The Schools’ Status,” below) …