Arts & Culture

Explore Harvard’s vibrant arts scene—from campus exhibitions and theater to cultural analysis and literary reviews. Discover how creativity shapes the Harvard experience.

A woman gazes at large decorative letters with her reflection and two stylized faces beside them.

The True Cost of Grade Inflation at Harvard

How an abundance of A’s created “the most stressed-out world of all.”

by Lindsay Mitchell

Ben Cosgrove at the keyboard during a recent performance

Composer and musician Ben Cosgrove portrays place in "Yankee Division," a new CD

Composer Ben Cosgrove connects sound and place.

by David Rice

Charles Cushman’s America, in Kodachrome: Phillips Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 1959 (above), and Newberry and Maxwell Streets, Chicago, 1950 (below, right)</p>

Books by Michael Sandel, Jill Lepore, Eric Sandweiss, Philip Warburg, and others

Recent books with Harvard connections

Getting them while they’re young: tiny cigarette packs, meant for children to incorporate into their play with dolls or toy soldiers

"Golden Holocaust," by Robert N. Proctor, advocates the abolition of cigarettes

Robert Proctor’s Golden Holocaust urges abolition of cigarettes, the leading preventable cause of death.

Film director Mustapha Khan near his home and studio, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge

Rocksteady film by director Mustapha Khan

Rocksteady, a film directed by Mustapha Khan '84, explores the culture of stock car races.

by Steve Potter

Jonathan L. Walton

Harvard’s new Memorial Church minister, Jonathan Walton, and other newsmakers

Memorial Church's new minister, Pulitzer Prize winners, and other Harvardians in the news

For 15 years, William Francis Gibbs greeted the SS <i>United States</i> every time the liner he had designed arrived in New York City.

Naval architect William Francis Gibbs, designer of the SS United States

Brief life of America’s greatest naval architect: 1886-1967

by Steven Ujifusa

Study of a Red and Yellow Macaw <i>(Macrocercus aracanga),</i> now known as Scarlet Macaw <i>(Ara macao).</i> Watercolor over graphite on paper.

Harvard exhibits bicentennial Edward Lear animal art

A bicentennial exhibition features the little-known, masterful animal artistry of Edward Lear.

by Christopher Reed

Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson urge compromise in U.S. politics

Continuous campaigning and gridlocked governing in American politics

by Amy Gutmann , Dennis Thompson

<i>Porgy and Bess</i> ensemble members Nathaniel Stampley (on left) and Alicia Hall Moran sang "Bess You Is My Woman Now," outside the Science Center during the production’s run at the ART.

The 2012 Tony Awards honor Harvard-connected shows, performers, and actor

Two shows developed at the American Repertory Theater win awards.

Preston Scott Cohen

Preston Scott Cohen's glass canopy in New York City wins rave reviews

Architect Preston Scott Cohen's glass canopy above a Manhattan Street attracts notice.