Commentary
In-depth perspectives and critical analysis from faculty, editors, and readers on public affairs, higher education, and Harvard’s evolving mission.
Sustainability on the Menu
Harvard’s sustainable meals program aims to support local farms, protect oceans, and limit waste.
Harvard’s COVID-19 lessons, and new challenges
What Harvard has already learned from the pandemic—and strategic challenges to come
The Undergraduate faces life without handrails
The Undergraduate faces up to a postgraduate life without handrails.
by Julie Chung
Nicholas Burns on diplomacy’s role in fostering U.S. standing in the world
On restoring American leadership through diplomacy
Letting Go of the “Ideal” Classroom
“The ‘ideal’ classroom never existed anyway, at least not in a perfectly equitable manner,” writes Julie Chung ’20.
by Julie Chung
Zoom and the zero commute
“The biggest obstacle to our collective learning is the elephant in the room: a global pandemic, taking place amid existing inequalities,” writes Drew Pendergrass ’20.
The Undergraduate on power and the denial of scholarship
A student scientist contemplates power and the denial of scholarship.
Ways to cope with the federal debt
The politics, policymaking, and public consequences of mounting government debt—and how to cope with it
David Cutler on trimming U.S. healthcare costs
Administrative costs, greed, overutilization—can these drivers of U.S. medical costs be curbed?
by David Cutler
The College Pump
Houseboating in Boston Harbor, Apthorp North, and clothing counts
by Primus VI
Letters from our readers
Authoritarianism, labor law, climate change, and more