Year: 2014

  • Nation & World

    A sense of direction

    President Drew Faust discussed challenges facing Harvard at the start of a new academic year in a conversation with journalist Nicholas Kristof at Sanders Theatre.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A union scotched?

    Niall Ferguson explains the motives behind the national referendum on Scottish independence and what’s on the horizon if Scotland leaves the U.K.

    16 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The communications gap on vaccines

    Panelists at the School of Public Health called for a stronger communications effort by physicians to counter misinformation on vaccines.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Have silicon switches met their match?

    Silicon has few serious competitors as the material of choice in the electronics industry. Now, Harvard researchers have engineered a quantum material called a correlated oxide to perform comparably with the best silicon switches.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    For peace’s sake

    Atalia Omer, who received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 2008 and is currently associate professor of religion, conflict, and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, will deliver the 2014 Dana McLean Greeley Lecture for Peace and Social Justice at Harvard Divinity School’s Center for the Study of World Religions at 5:15 p.m. today…

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Diabetes’ genetic variety

    Harvard researchers working at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have uncovered nine rare genetic mutations that dramatically increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The discovery of the mutations highlights the dizzying genetic diversity of a disease rapidly spreading around the world.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    McKinlock Hall, rejuvenated

    Leverett House’s McKinlock Hall re-opened to students at the beginning of the academic year after 15 months of reconstruction. McKinlock is the second completed project in the House renewal initiative, which is one of the largest and most ambitious capital improvement campaigns in Harvard College history and a major campaign priority.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Watching the watchers

    Harvard fellow Adam Tanner talks about his new book, “What Stays in Vegas: The World of Personal Data — Lifeblood of Big Business — and the End of Privacy as We Know It.”

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    ‘Ulysses’ unlocked

    A new book by Harvard lecturer in history and literature Kevin Birmingham tracks the challenge of bringing “Ulysses,” the masterwork by James Joyce, to the page and to the public.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Wiping out sepsis

    A new device inspired by the human spleen and developed by a team at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering may radically transform the way doctors treat sepsis.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    ‘Elements of Architecture’ reprised by Koolhaas

    “Elements of Architecture” was reprised in Cambridge as Harvard Professor Rem Koolhaas expounded on the exhibit during a lecture that kicked off the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s “The Grounded Visionaries” weekend (Sept. 12-14).

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Medical School receives $30M in grant funding

    The Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science has received $30 million in grant funding over the five years from three U.S. government agencies to launch its new research activities, Harvard Medical School announced on Sept. 11.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Voice of the brutalized

    Harvard Humanitarian Initiative researchers polled residents of a war-torn part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, finding that though many think the security situation has improved, trust in government is at a low ebb.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A leap for the Loeb

    The Loeb Classical Library Foundation has joined with Harvard University Press to digitize all of the library’s 520-plus volumes.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Shopping week? Priceless

    During the first few days of each semester, Harvard offers “shopping week,” in which students try out a class before formally registering.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Cruel summer

    Faculty from HLS and HKS examined recent upheaval in the Middle East as part of a new Harvard Hillel series on politics and public policy.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Star-spangled beauty

    Harvard scholars reflect on the lyricism, the language and the legacy of the national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” on its 200th anniversary.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    To speak out, or not

    In a panel discussion, Harvard academics wrestle with the issue of when to speak out on pressing public issues.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Undermining leukemia

    A Harvard Stem Cell Institute study comparing how blood stem cells and leukemia cells consume nutrients found that cancer cells are far less tolerant of shifts in their energy supply than their normal counterparts. The results suggest there could be ways to target and kill cancer cells without affecting healthy cells.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The $3 million suit

    The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has been awarded a first-phase, follow-on contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to further develop its Soft Exosuit ― a wearable robot — alternative versions of which could eventually help those with limited mobility as well.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    $3.5M gift to develop environmental leaders

    A five-year, $3.5 million gift to launch the Louis Bacon Environmental Leadership Program was announced Wednesday by the Harvard Kennedy School. Louis Bacon is a prominent entrepreneur and conservationist.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Cutting the cord on soft robots

    Researchers at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed the world’s first untethered soft robot — a quadruped that can stand up and walk away from its designers.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Bearing witness to Uganda

    The A.R.T. of Human Rights, a yearlong series, kicked off at the Oberon theater with a discussion about gay rights in Uganda.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Ebola’s ripple effects

    The fight to end the Ebola epidemic is not just about saving lives, it’s also about heading off a potentially broader humanitarian crisis, according to a Harvard Kennedy School panel.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A door closes, another opens

    Freshman Matthew DeShaw arrives at Harvard, unloads, and slips into a new life.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The value of mentoring

    Harvard Professor Evelynn Hammonds served as a mentor for Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard (SROH), a 10-week residential program that exposes undergraduates from across the country to life in a research university. SROH is dedicated to training young scholars from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups traditionally underrepresented in graduate training.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A circle completed

    Boston native Aldel Brown, who helped found a charter school in the District of Columbia, credits his childhood tennis lessons with Tenacity in helping him to succeed. Brown has returned as a member of the Harvard Law School Class of 2017.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    From decisive to dithering

    A new research paper co-authored by HBS Professor Michael I. Norton finds that calibrating the decision-making process helps drive our appeal and influence over others.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Art for artists’ sake

    A Harvard graduate and Lowell House residence manager help homeless artists find a mass market for their work.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Patrick Dewes Hanan remembered on Sept. 12

    A celebration marking the life and career of Patrick Dewes Hanan will be held Sept. 12.

    1 minute