Commentary

In-depth perspectives and critical analysis from faculty, editors, and readers on public affairs, higher education, and Harvard’s evolving mission.

A smiling elderly man in glasses sits comfortably in a striped armchair.

Jack Reardon and Walter Cabot, Remembered

Plus, veteran higher education leader Thomas Ehrlich reflects on university curricula for his 70th reunion

by Primus VI

Divest Harvard signs hangs from Mass. Hall.

Has Harvard “Divested”?

Interpreting President Bacow’s recent statement on climate change

by John S. Rosenberg

Photograph of Kit Parker on duty in Afghanistan, spring 2003, with a village leader in Kandahar Province

Afghanistan Will Be What It Always Was

But will we be better? A veteran’s reflections

by Kit Parker

Letters from our readers

Restorative justice, Radcliffe rebranded, endowment reparations

Photographic portrait of Harvard president Lawrence S. Bacow

ManyVoices

On speaking out—on Harvard’s behalf

by Lawrence S. Bacow

How will Harvard change post-coronavirus?

Opportunities in admissions, online degrees, research, and more

“/Gaishay focusing the camera,” a photograph taken during a 1957-58 ethnographic expedition in Namibia, shows three indigenous boys, one standing behind a camera on a tripod

Documenting New England’s Unseen

Seeking mentorship as a student of color, and finding a calling in the arts

by Che Applewhaite

An illustration showing a professor held back by ivy vines, representing traditional and reluctance to change

Forum: Is Harvard Complacent?

Considering fundamental change in the wake of the pandemic

by Brian Rosenberg

Michael Porter

Governance Reform and Shared Value

Michael Porter on the new business agenda

by Juliet Isselbacher

Lawrence S. Bacow

A New Way

President Bacow on exploring better work-life balance after the pandemic

by Lawrence S. Bacow

Letters from our readers

A standard-setter retires—plus U.S. presidential debates, Overseer elections, admissions biases