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The Elitism of Elite Colleges
… with some serious blind spots... High-school students, their parents, and indeed, most of us see receiving a thick envelope from an Ivy League … argues that we may not actually want to go through some of those doors. The writer is William Deresiewicz, a …
The Harvard Remarks of the Aga Khan
… Lecture at Harvard’s Memorial Church, co-sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the … Program, on November 12, His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims (and a member of the College … realities that were shaping their lives, including the rise of African independence movements, the perilous …
On the Trail of Human Diversity
… As the first modern humans made their way out of Africa, about … scales in fish. The mutation, EDAR370A—estimated to have arisen in central China approximately 30,000 years ago—was …
Issue: May-June 2013
In the Wake of War
… Father and son. Lawyer and philosopher. Conservative and liberal. Charles Fried, Beneficial professor of law, and Gregory Fried '83, professor of … and Lincoln's illegal actions taken in response to the crises they faced, and the actions of these two great …
Issue: September-October 2010
The Roman Theater of Cruelty
… In 1855, there were said to be 420 varieties of plants growing in the … for slaughter in ancient Roman festivals. The survival of African plant species is only one of many remarkable …
The Education of a Poker Player
… was less prominent in popular culture than it is today. There wasn’t much commercial poker. New Jersey was a year away from approving casino gambling. Nevada casinos offered poker, but as an afterthought. (The casino business … from the bad players, and the casino gets only a percentage of the pot or a time charge.) Back then, the best …
Issue: March-April 2006
A Mind of One’s Own
… poems that continue to entrance and mystify readers across the globe. That table will again be on display at Harvard’s … far more riveting is seeing its replica within the context of her intensely private domain: her bedroom at The Emily … along with the parlor, library, and conservatory, is part of the guided tour that starts as a literary pilgrimage of …
Issue: March-April 2020
Vistas of Perfection
… B-41 in George Smith Hall, a building that is now part of Kirkland House. Decades later, after Agee had become a … great books, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and A Death in the Family --his roommate, Robert Saudek, remembered what it … stranger than before. Saudek might have been even more surprised if he had known exactly where his roommate had …
Issue: May-June 2009
The Power of Negative Thinking
… even lucrative, and scientists labor long and hard to get them. Like baseball sluggers stepping up to the plate, many … dread research slumps for good reason: swing and miss too often and maybe your contract, or your funding, won't be … players can't win with bad batting averages, scientists often learn from a good whiff, says Hersey professor of cell …
Issue: January-February 2003
Harvard's Latest Field of Expertise: the Semicolon
… A recent public-service ad campaign in the New York City subways used a semicolon in urging riders to dispose of their newspapers rather than leaving them behind on the … ad campaign as an entry point into a broader investigation of the little-used punctuation mark and its cultural …
The Pulse of a New Medical Curriculum
… When he found out he would spend his third year of medical school based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, rather than rotating among hospital venues every few months, … Babak Nazer knew he’d gain from having an ongoing group of physician mentors at the Harvard-affiliated institution. …
Issue: September-October 2006
The Toots of Love
… The second-floor balcony of the central entryway of Grays Hall—in the best of times a …
Toward the Negotiated City
… neighborhoods vibrant, safe, affordable, and nurturing? Do they support different kinds of people living different kinds of dreams? What are the … for the greater good. Today, when inequality is on the rise, Saving America’s Cities warns against easy solutions …
Issue: September-October 2019
Minding the Gap
… Four days before last Christmas, the $300-billion California Public Employees’ Retirement … plan, announced that it would reduce the expected rate of return on its investments from 7.5 percent to 7 percent. … not small: the state expects its direct pension costs to rise 40 percent, or $2 billion, annually, and plan sponsors …
Issue: May-June 2017
Shades of Justice
… J.D. ’81, read an article about two black women who claimed they were fired from jobs at the post office because of discrimination. Her father, who had also … protesting the termination. “I got a note back, which surprised me,” she recalls. “But, of course, he was justifying …
Issue: March-April 2014