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.

Several people are holding a large ribbon for a ceremony outside a modern building.

Harvard and City Leaders Celebrate ERC Opening

Phase A of the Allston project includes a hotel, residences, and a two-acre greenway.

by Laurel M. Shugart

In Yup’ik lore, the crane—depicted in the mask above—connotes stealth, power, and insight. The human face on the bird’s belly represents its <em>yua,</em> or spirit—the part of the animal that understands, and can relate to, humans. The porcelain “teeth” that border the face are a reminder to use one’s innate gifts to good effect, or risk being consumed by them. The porcelain “bones” hanging from the wings ward off evil spirits; wooden rings represent this world and the spirit world.

Mnemonic Masks

Inspired by his Yup’ik heritage, Phillip Charette educates through his art.

by Elizabeth Gudrais

Chapter & Verse

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Agee as an aspiring writer at Harvard, cigarette and Dostoevsky's <em>The Posses

Vistas of Perfection

A profile of writer James Agee, at Harvard and beyond

by Adam Kirsch

Pardis Sabeti

Pardis Sabeti

For this systems biologist, the interaction of science and music is multiplicative.

Chasing Bogeys

A novel book on golf

George Martin Lane

Song for Hard Times

The classic folksong “One Meat Ball” got its start at Harvard.

Drawings from Half Moon Ledger Book. Ms Am 233, Houghton Library, Harvard University.  Gift of Harriet J. Bradbury, 1930.

Warrior Artists

Lakota drawings inspire a dramatic exhibition.

by Christopher Reed

Yucky Pollution, Shiny Pretty, 2001, Hilltop Children’s Center, Seattle. From <em>Can Poetry Save the Earth?</em>

Off the Shelf

Recent books with Harvard connections

Ancestral Influences

View images of Phillip Charette's masks alongside masks from the Smithsonian Institution holdings that inspired him.

Arts Administration in Challenging Times

Michael M. Kaiser, known for steering the Kennedy Center and other troubled arts organizations back to health, shares his secrets with a Harvard audience.