Commentary

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

Javier Ortega-Hernández wearing a straw hat and blue scarf stands in a vast, arid landscape.

Five Questions with Javier Ortega-Hernández

A professor of evolutionary biology on what shaped life more than 500 million years ago

by Olivia Farrar

Letters from our readers

Imposter syndrome, AI and authoritarianism, shopping week

Admissions Agenda

Thinking about how Harvard conducts admissions, as the Supreme Court prepares to weigh in

by John S. Rosenberg

The illustration shows an empty rowboat floating away and a woman wading toward it, in chest-high water.

The Need for Communal Healing

Coming to terms with personal and pandemic grief

by Rebecca E. J. Cadenhead

Photograph of boats at anchor on the approach to Boston’s Logan Airportn

A Multiverse of Might-Have-Beens

A 2021 graduate returns to campus for a belated Commencement that feels more like a reunion.

by Meena Venkataramanan

Letters

“Shopping week,” workplace culture, solace, and other reader views

Portrait of Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow

The View from Mass Hall

President Bacow on maintaining University values while adopting the best lessons learned during the pandemic 

by Lawrence S. Bacow

Efficiency and Productivity in the Academy

The gains and losses from changes in Commencement and “shopping week”

Ethnically diverse students are shown as ingredients tossed together in a metaphorical salad bowl.

Harvard's Ethnic "Salad Bowl"

Exclusion and belonging in undergraduate cultural organizations

by Swathi Kella

The Truth About Imposter Syndrome

Thoughts on a perennial undergraduate complaint

by Rebecca E. J. Cadenhead

Portrait of President Lawrence S. Bacow

The View from Mass Hall

President Bacow on the Arnold Arboretum as a place for plants and people