All articles


  • Science & Tech

    Exploring hidden life’s abundance

    Two miles below the surface of the Sargasso Sea lies a depression in the Earth’s crust filled with sediment and, scientists believe, teeming with life — exotic, microscopic, and very…

  • Arts & Culture

    Panel of experts addresses Lincoln’s legacy

    On Monday (Feb. 9), a team of experts assembled at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (HKS) to examine the history and profound impact of the tall, awkward, self-taught man from rural Kentucky who is credited with bringing about an end to slavery and saving the nation’s cherished founding principle of democratic rule.

  • Health

    Doctors override most electronic medication safety alerts

    Computer-based systems that allow clinicians to prescribe drugs electronically are designed to automatically warn of potential medication errors, but a new study reveals clinicians often override the alerts and rely…

  • Arts & Culture

    ‘Passion for the Arts’ translates into action

    Harvard University is taking the first steps recommended in December by its Arts Task Force, including finding more gallery space in existing buildings and creating a Web portal that will ease access to seeing, hearing, and learning the arts in practice.

  • Health

    Diverse ‘connectomes’ hint at genes’ limits in the nervous system

    Genetics may play a surprisingly small role in determining the precise wiring of the mammalian nervous system, according to painstaking mapping of every neuron projecting to a small muscle mice use to move their ears.

  • Campus & Community

    Sherwood-Randall establishes fund for undergrad opportunities

    The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) at Harvard University recently announced the establishment of the Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall Fund. The fund will be used to expose Harvard undergraduates to European public affairs and encourage them to pursue international experiences that include Europe.

  • Health

    International study identifies gene variants associated with early heart attack

    The largest study ever completed of genetic factors associated with heart attacks has identified nine genetic regions — three not previously described — that appear to increase the risk for early-onset myocardial infarction. The report from the Myocardial Infarction Genetics Consortium, based on information from a total of 26,000 individuals in 10 countries, was given…

  • Campus & Community

    Zellweger adds Hasty Pudding Pot to trophy shelf

    Academy Award-winning actress Renée Zellweger proves she is worthy of the shiny Pudding Pot that comes with being named the Woman of the Year by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

  • Arts & Culture

    Rubén Blades donates papers, recordings

    He’s attained fame as an award-winning actor and musician, founded a political party and run for president of his native Panama and served as the Panamanian minister of tourism, but now Rubén Blades LL.M. ’85 will add another credit to his resume: Harvard College Library benefactor.

  • Campus & Community

    ‘Symbiotic’ Web archive launched

    A new Web archive created by faculty, students, and librarians at Harvard brings original research on Leonard Bernstein and his Boston roots to the public for the first time. The material, which went live on the Web on Jan. 23, was collected during undergraduate seminars and over the course of an international Bernstein Festival at…

  • Campus & Community

    José Ortiz new deputy director of Art Museum

    The Harvard Art Museum announced the appointment of José Ortiz as deputy director, effective March 2, 2009. Ortiz is currently deputy director/chief of finance and administration at the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. A skilled and innovative administrator, Ortiz has a strong record of managing world-class cultural institutions, combined with…

  • Arts & Culture

    Du Bois exhibit a first in U.S.

    The images on the walls of the intimate gallery at 104 Mt. Auburn St. are hauntingly evocative. In “Black Friar,” a hooded figure stares out of the darkness, his gaze intense and unsettled. An opposing image, “Every Moment Counts,” offers a modern approach to Jesus, as a beloved disciple leans against the body of the…

  • Arts & Culture

    Du Bois Institute gives Houghton Library Masonic certificate

    The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University recently gave a Masonic membership certificate signed by Prince Hall, a minister, abolitionist, and civil rights activist known as the father of Black Freemasonry in the United States, to Houghton Library.

  • Arts & Culture

    Innovative filmmaking marks VES program

    An intimate relationship between the residents of Harbin city in northeastern China and their mother river, the Songhua. A revealing insight into the personal struggles and national identity of Sudanese potters on the banks of the White Nile. These are the subjects of two ethnographic films premiering Feb. 11 at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology…

  • Arts & Culture

    Vivid scrolls from Japan tell timeless stories

    For nearly a decade, Melissa McCormick, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities, has been absorbed in the study of elaborate works of fiction. The themes she encounters — love, temptation, even family drama — are timeless. The format — narrow horizontal scrolls of mulberry paper, with hand-painted images and columns of calligraphy —…

  • Campus & Community

    Bridget Jones is on campus, James Dean on his way

    “You had me at ‘Renée!?????” Renée Zellweger and James Franco have been chosen as the 2009 Hasty Pudding Woman and Man of the Year.

  • Arts & Culture

    Houghton to host four major symposia

    The year 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Ballets Russes, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the 300th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Johnson — and all four will be celebrated at Houghton Library.

  • Arts & Culture

    A visit with musician Hans Tutschku

    Up in the eaves of Paine Music Hall, professor of music Hans Tutschku is hard at work composing in a setting that would make Mozart’s head spin. The space is small but packed with equipment: computer monitors, eight loudspeakers, a turntable, and several mixers and synthesizers with enough levers to land a 747.

  • Campus & Community

    This month in Harvard history

    Feb. 29, 1672 — President Charles Chauncy dies in office. Feb. 10, 1853 — Jared Sparks steps down as President; James Walker, Class of 1814, immediately succeeds him to become Harvard’s 18th President. Feb. 26, 1862 — President Cornelius Conway Felton dies in office. February 1900 — Through the efforts of the Cambridge Cantabrigia Club,…

  • Campus & Community

    Police reports

    Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Feb. 2. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

  • Campus & Community

    Lester Kissel Grants in Practical Ethics available to undergrads

    The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics encourages Harvard College students to apply for Lester Kissel Grants in Practical Ethics to support research and writing that makes contributions to the understanding of practical ethics. A number of grants will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects to be conducted during the summer of…

  • Campus & Community

    Harvard joins Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies

    Harvard University is the most recent member of the Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies (NCAIS). The NCAIS, inaugurated in June 2008 by the Newberry Library in Chicago, is composed of 10 research universities that have faculty expertise in the field of American Indian Studies. Harvard was inducted Dec. 1.

  • Campus & Community

    Eggan recognized by president

    Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientist Kevin Eggan was cited by President George W. Bush for his work in advancing the field of stem cell science on both scientific and educational levels.

  • Campus & Community

    Manela AAAS visiting scholar

    Erez Manela, Harvard’s Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History, is among eight individuals who have been awarded fellowships as part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ (AAAS) Visiting Scholars Program for 2009. The fellowship program supports scholars and practitioners in the early stages of their careers who show leadership potential in the humanities,…

  • Campus & Community

    Hoja de Laurel de Oro Award to Barbara and William Fash

    Harvard professors Barbara Fash and William Fash have been jointly honored with the Hoja de Laurel de Oro, the prestigious lifetime achievement award given by the government of Honduras. The award, which recognizes the couple’s 30-plus years of service in preserving and documenting Honduras’ cultural heritage, was presented at the Casa Presidential in the capital…

  • Campus & Community

    Four students to attend Clinton Global Initiative Conference

    Harvard University students Lizzy Majzoub ’10, Lucy Claire Curran ’11, Helen Strom ’11, and Elizabeth Powers ’10 are among 1,000 student volunteers selected to attend the prestigious Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference in Austin, Texas.

  • Campus & Community

    HSPH’s David Bloom chosen for global health research group

    Renowned health economist and demographer David Bloom, chair of the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health and Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, has been selected to join a group of 25 ambassadors in the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research with Research!America.

  • Campus & Community

    Forum to learn about financial resources

    The Harvard Financial Resources Forum, sponsored by Harvard Human Resources and Harvard Medical School, is a chance for employees to learn about the financial resources provided by Harvard. Today (Feb. 5) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., financial advisers as well as representatives from Harvard’s retirement/TDA vendors, local banks, mortgage companies, and on-campus service providers…

  • Campus & Community

    Summer School’s revised calendar begins June 22

    In response to the impending changes to the Harvard academic calendar, particularly in light of the limited summer weeks in 2009, the Harvard Summer School has revised its calendar for 2009.

  • Campus & Community

    Truong new assistant director of Harvard Foundation

    Loc V. Truong has recently been appointed assistant director of the Harvard Foundation. Truong, a former administrative fellow in the Office of the Associate Vice President Administrative Fellows Program (AFC), has served as assistant director of employer relations at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) for the past three years. Truong will assist the…