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Baber Johansen – one of the worlds most eminent scholars of Islamic studies and a leading specialist, in particular, on topics of Muslim law – has accepted a tenured position at Harvard University as professor of Islamic religious studies in the Faculty of Divinity, effective July 1.

Heterophony, polyvocality, and sound diffusion are not terms that typically come up in casual conversations about music. But these elements are the stock in trade of contemporary music, a genre that was on dazzling display at Paine Concert Hall last weekend (March 4 and 5) as some of its most acclaimed composers and practitioners performed…

Silvan Shalom, Israels deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, opened his address to a standing-room-only crowd at the Kennedy School Monday (March 7) by quoting John F. Kennedy: In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of danger. I…

The Mark DeWolfe Howe Fund for Study and Research in Civil Rights-Civil Liberties and Legal History is now accepting proposals for either the coming summer or for the 2005-06 academic year. The annual income from the fund – approximately $20,000 to be distributed as either a single grant or in several grants – will be…

Gathering for what moderator Swanee Hunt, director of the Women and Public Policy Program, called a grim subject, a group of experts met in the Kennedy School Forum to talk about the trafficking of women and girls worldwide and what, if anything, can be done to stop it.

Distance freestyler John Cole 05 closed out his final year as a member of Harvards swimming and diving team in dazzling, record-setting fashion this past weekend in Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL) championship action at Blodgett Pool. Of course, after his latest string of victories (the upperclassman took first in the individual 500-, 1,000-, and…

Women’s hoops edge Dartmouth, 70-67, for slice of Ivy title Junior Maureen McCaffery and senior Reka Cserny sparked a 29-6 second-half run to propel the Harvard women’s basketball team past…

In an effort to make Harvard the nations top university purchaser of renewable energy, Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers announced a new renewable energy fund to promote the development of renewable energy on campus.

The Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering is sponsoring two upcoming forums for female postdoctoral fellows of the Harvard community. All female postdoctoral fellows from the University are invited to attend, share their thoughts, and give concrete suggestions on how Harvard can improve the postdoctoral experience for women and better equip women for…

Bradley Welch to play Harvard Organ Society’s celebrity series In association with Harvard University Art Museums and the Memorial Church, the Harvard Organ Society will present a recital by world-renowned…

Chen wins Weintraub Award Irene A. Chen, an M.D. candidate in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Harvard Medical School, has been named one of 15 graduate students nationwide selected…

In a long-awaited clinical trial conducted among nearly 40,000 initially healthy middle-aged American women, regular use of low-dose aspirin over a 10-year period was found to reduce the risk of stroke 17 percent. However, among the same population, researchers from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Womens Hospital (BWH) also found that low-dose aspirin did not benefit most…

The tsunami that hit Southeast Asia on Dec. 26 created one of the largest swaths of destruction meted out by a natural disaster in historical memory. This catastrophe galvanized an unprecedented outpouring of international aid in terms of funds and organizational efforts, providing an opportunity to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of international humanitarian…

Film and television actor Sharon Stone will receive the Harvard Foundations 2005 Humanitarian Award when she delivers the annual Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Lecture at the Memorial Church on Monday (March 14) at 7 p.m.

Drawing a line between areas where people use the term hoagie rather than po boy or water fountain instead of bubbler is the kind of problem that concerns linguists who study regional speech differences.

Democratic institutions are gaining a foothold in parts of the Middle East, according to U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. But only time will tell if the institutions flourish and if so, how those democracies will look compared with ours, Feith told an audience at the Kennedy School Forum March 3.

President Lawrence H. Summers will hold office hours for students in his Massachusetts Hall office on the following dates:

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department for the week ending March 14. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor.

A memorial service for Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology Emeritus Ernst Mayr will be held April 29 at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Church. Widely considered the worlds most eminent evolutionary biologist, Mayr joined Harvards Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1953 and led Harvards Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1961 to 1970.

The Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government has recently announced the availability of predoctoral fellowships for the 2005-06 academic year. The center supports research in areas relating to leadership and the dynamics of progress and change. This fellowship is intended to expose the successful applicant to the academic literature on leadership…

The Holyoke Center Arcade looks open for business as night falls.

March 1925 – The Harvard-Boston (Egyptian) Expedition discovers, intact, the secret tomb of Queen Hetep-heres I, mother of King Cheops (a.k.a. Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid). This spectacular find…

At its 10th meeting of the year on March 9, the Faculty Council heard a report from the Harvard College Curricular Review Committee on General Education. Committee members present included Professors Charles Maier and Michael Sandel, and student representative Matthew Mahan 05. Council member Alison Simmons also serves on the General Education Committee.

Harvard University Art Museums will host the Tanglewood Marionettes as part of its upcoming Sackler Saturday event on March 12. The performance, titled Perseus and Medusa – A Tale From Ancient Greece, tells the classic Greek myth of Perseus and his quest to defeat the snaky-haired Gorgon Medusa. The show begins at 11:30 a.m., and…