Month: February 2015

  • Nation & World

    Learning on the fly

    First-generation students bring lessons to Harvard ― of resilience, perseverance, and of talent’s universality.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    An opening for measles

    In the wake of the recent measles outbreak, a panel of experts convened at Harvard Law School to discuss the ethical, legal, and public health issues around vaccination.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    New director for Villa I Tatti

    Harvard art and architecture history professor Alina Payne has been named the director of the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti in Florence, Italy.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Tough days for MBTA

    Jose Gomez-Ibanez, a transportation and infrastructure policy expert at Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, talks about the political and financial hurdles to smoothly running public transit systems.

    9 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The rule-breaking Sisters Grimke

    “Exiled by the sound of the lash” from the slaveholding state of South Carolina, the Grimké sisters came North before the Civil War with rule-breaking ideas on slavery’s wrongs and women’s rights. They represented an antebellum moment in which “women became political.”

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Making sense of Congress

    A pair of Harvard seniors, aided by Harvard’s innovation environment, have launched a company that helps people make sense of Congress by gathering in one place diverse information on representatives, districts, bills, and legislative proceedings.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Perception of food consumption overrides reality

    Targeting mechanisms in the central nervous system might yield the beneficial effects of low-calorie diets on healthy aging without the need to alter food intake, suggests new research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Faculty Council meeting held Feb. 25

    On Feb. 25, the Faculty Council approved a concentration in Theater, Dance, and Media. They also discussed a conflict of interest policy for centers and course scheduling.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    The teetering Greece

    With talk of austerity and bailout terms as the backdrop, experts gathered at the Center for European Studies to discuss the Greek debt crisis in depth. They were not optimistic that a solution is near.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Scrolling through the galleries

    A series of virtual tours enables a deep dive into selected pieces at the Harvard Art Museums.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A new understanding of Alzheimer’s

    Using the principle of natural selection, researchers have outlined a new model of the disease suggesting that mitochondria — power plants for cells — might be at its center.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Innovation Lab appoints new managing director

    Jodi Goldstein has been appointed the Evans Family Foundation Managing Director of the Harvard Innovation Lab.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    From prison to poverty

    Harvard sociologist and Radcliffe fellow Bruce Western recently completed a study tracking 122 incarcerated men and women in the Boston area who were released back into society. Western’s research helps shed light on how poverty, along with unaddressed problems, helped shape his subjects’ lives.

    11 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Malaria: Down but not out

    Anti-malaria efforts have made progress in recent years, but authorities have to keep up the pressure if they are to defeat an illness that is not only ancient, but resilient, speakers at Harvard said.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The entire egg

    Harvard Professor Walter Willett underlined the distinction between dietary and blood cholesterol, and stressed whole foods rather than any single nutrient as key to a healthy diet.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The talented Georges Doriot

    Exhibition at Harvard Business School’s Baker Library celebrates the rich career of one of the School’s most influential faculty members, Georges Doriot.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Eva Longoria celebrates Harvard diversity

    Acclaimed actress Eva Longoria was presented the 2015 Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year award at the 30th annual Cultural Rhythms festival in Sanders Theatre on Saturday.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Lessons learned in astronaut school

    In a recent EdCast, NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson shares her thoughts on women and STEM education, her personal journey as a student, and her time in space.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Brown named to National Academy of Engineering

    Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Professor Emery N. Brown, who also holds appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was named to the National Academy of Engineering in early February.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Shelter for the psyche

    Harvard psychiatrist Jacqueline Olds offers some tips for coping with the snow and the dark days of winter.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Legacy of resolve

    Escaped slave and abolitionist Lewis Hayden’s work goes on, through the students who receive the scholarship established in his name at Harvard Medical School.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Patrick named Commencement speaker

    Deval L. Patrick, who recently concluded two terms as governor of Massachusetts, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises of Harvard’s 364th Commencement in May.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Buoyant welcome for Ed Portal reboot

    The reimagined Harvard Ed Portal, a 12,000-square-foot space devoted to teaching and innovation, opened its doors Feb. 21 at Western Avenue and North Harvard Street in Allston.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Climate engineering: In from the cold

    Harvard Professor David Keith says that two new reports by the National Academy of Sciences are likely to boost a deeper look at possible geoengineering options for climate engineering.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Code like a girl

    HGSE panelists outlined ways to counter the shortage of women pursuing careers that require a STEM education, particularly in computer science.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    ‘Revolutionary’ writing earns prize nomination

    One of the nation’s largest and most prestigious literary awards, the George Washington Book Prize recognizes the best new books on early American history.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Evaluating the Oscars

    Film critic A.O. Scott spoke with the Gazette about the current crop of Oscar contenders, and Hollywood’s trends.

    19 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Not a straight path

    Matthew DeShaw ’18 writes about making room for his passions, and listening to mentors, in his shopping-week decisions.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Playing the ‘envelope game’

    Harvard researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind model, dubbed the “envelope game,” that can help researchers to understand not only why humans evolved to be cooperative but why people evolved to cooperate in a principled way.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A.O. Scott reviews himself

    In a question-and-answer interview, New York Times film critic and Harvard alumnus A.O. Scott explains his craft, and how he came to it.

    17 minutes