The University Committee on Human Rights Studies is launching a new Harvard initiative to assist scholars who face the risk of persecution in their home countries because of their beliefs, scholarship, or identity. The yearlong fellowship is intended to provide a safe environment for academics, writers, or independent intellectuals (employment at an academic institution is not required of fellowship candidates) to pursue scholarly work without fear of repression, violence, censorship, or punishment. The fellowship is not envisaged as an opportunity to mobilize political support on the issues giving rise to a scholars predicament.
Theres no cease-fire in the battle of the sexes, at least not at the genetic level, said pioneering genetics researcher and Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman in her Deans Lecture Series talk at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Monday afternoon (March 18).
At the Harvard Islamic Societys (HISs) weekly prayer service in Lowell Lecture Hall Friday (March 15), nearly 50 members of the Universitys Muslim community gathered, as they do most weeks. As the Muslims bowed and prayed, sitting stocking-footed on carpets aligned toward Mecca, a dozen others watched from the seats of Lowell, one even filming the service on a videocamera.
Aiming to foster a deeper understanding of the volunteer experience, the Harvard College Library (HCL) honored HCL employees who make lasting contributions to their communities, at a volunteer fair on Tuesday, March 12, in the Gutman Conference Center of Gutman Library. The daylong event, a collaborative effort between the HCL joint council and administration, showcased volunteer opportunities and workshops that detailed volunteers personal accounts.
There are people in Los Angeles, accountants and writers and teachers, who have become so accustomed to feeling the ground shake that they make a sport of trying to determine every earthquakes point of origin, betting that they can call it within a certain number of miles or dinner is on them. More often than not, they lose, and when their predictions do match those of seismologists, Michael Antolik would likely tell you, its probably a matter of good old-fashioned luck. Antolik, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, is working to improve the locating of earthquakes. No, he cant move them from one place to another, but he is making them easier to find.
With a $50,000 planning grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Harvard University Librarys Weissman Preservation Center will embark on a one-year program to assess the preservation needs of photographic collections held in museums and libraries throughout the University. Harvards photographic holdings, which may number as many as 5 million objects, have been assessed on the collection level. But as Jan Merrill-Oldham, the Malloy-Rabinowitz Preservation Librarian, notes, We need to know these collections not only as historical evidence but as physical objects.
It was the first weekend signaling the coming of spring and what better way to spend it than shooting a film. On a balmy Saturday (March 9) followed by a crisp Sunday, a crew of 13 and a cast of five principal actors and seven extras assembled at the Busa Farm in Lexington to shoot the short film Scratching the Surface, one of the eight short films that will premiere at the Third Annual Dudley House Film and Video Festival.
On last weeks front page, the caption should read: The change from the oblong skull and protruding face of ancient humans (right) to the modern rounder skull and retraced face (left) is associated with a sharper bend in the floor of the brain case.
Following are some the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Saturday, March 9. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor.
President Lawrence H. Summers and Provost Steven Hyman will hold office hours for students in their Massachusetts Hall offices from 4 to 5 p.m. Individuals wishing to meet with President Summers or Provost Hyman will be welcomed on a first-come, first-served basis. A Harvard ID is required.
Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo (right) chats with President Lawrence H. Summers in Mass. Hall on Wednesday afternoon (March 13) a few hours before Zedillo delivered the 2002 Collins Lecture at the Kennedy School of Governments ARCO Forum.
Two years ago, Afsaneh Najmabadi delivered a lecture on gender and Iranian modernity as part of her selection process to the Harvard faculty. The talk summarized the final chapter of her nearly completed manuscript, Male Lions and Female Suns: The Gendered Tropes of Iranian Modernity.
The Harvard Childrens Initiative and the Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative have announced research awards of up to $1,500 for Harvard juniors and seniors (as of fall 2002). The second annual Kagan Undergraduate Research Awards are named in honor of Jerome Kagan, Daniel and Amy Starch Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, for his indispensable work in developmental psychology, and his deep commitment to undergraduate education.
Scoring three unanswered goals in the first quarter, the Harvard mens lacrosse team soared past the Hartford Hawks, 11-7, this past Saturday (March 9) at Jordan Field. Junior attackman Matt Primm and senior co-captain Jim Christian notched three goals apiece in the home opener, as Harvard goalie Jake McKenna 04, who had 14 stops on the day, staved off a steady Hartford attack with seven saves in the opening period alone. The Crimson – ranked 25th in the nation – secured a 2-0 record with the win, while the Hawks dropped to 1-1.
Christiane Amanpour, this years winner of the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism, gave the keynote address at the awards ceremony. Amanpour, chief international correspondent at CNN, spoke about the trials, tribulations – and rewards – of being a war correspondent in these difficult days. The ARCO Forum talk was a highlight of the 10th anniversary of the Goldsmith Awards, which are distributed by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government.
The Rev. M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O., author and internationally known leader of the Centering Prayer movement, will lead a two-evening talk and workshop on the practice of Centering Prayer on Wednesday, March 20, and Thursday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Church. Centering Prayer is a contemplative practice rooted in ancient texts, the living tradition of finding union with God. The method has its origin in the early monastic tradition of the church and the wisdom of the church fathers, reaching back to the sixth century. The event is free and open to the public, with free parking available at the Broadway Garage on Felton Street.
With new technology driving education reform, a host of new programs, disciplines, and teaching configurations are emerging, from packages that combine elements of traditional classroom teaching with distance learning components to intensive continuing education programs that are intended to replace more traditional full-time campus classes.
In his opening remarks at the Institute of Politics-sponsored panel discussion on the future of the Republican Party, Harvard College Republican Club President Brian Grech recounted a comment made by a former IOP fellow: You know, Brian, he said, I used to think I knew what it was like to be a minority, because Im Latino. But I didnt really know what a minority was until I was a Republican at Harvard.
Annys Shin, a senior writer for the Washington City Paper, has been awarded the Christopher J. Georges Fellowship for in-depth reporting to cover the impact of the release of prisoners finishing their mandatory sentences. Shin, 29, will receive $10,000 to fund research and writing of the project.
A new Harvard center is taking aim at neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Huntingtons, and Lou Gehrigs disease, using a collaborative approach and a combination of weapons to foster research aimed at advancing knowledge about the diseases and quickly applying that knowledge to the needs of patients.
Three of the 21st centurys foremost writers of English gathered at Harvard March 8 to read from their works. Sponsored by the Harvard Advocate, Americas oldest college literary magazine, the event featured poet John Ashbery 49, and prose writers Jamaica Kincaid and Salman Rushdie.
In an effort to improve medical teaching in an era when research is king and technology and societal changes are dramatically revising what it means to be a doctor, Harvard Medical School is launching an organization to recognize and support its best teachers and to innovate in medical education.
Can the nations oldest university, one with its roots sunk deep in American soil, embrace globalization? And what does this buzzword of globalization mean for education beyond swapping students across national borders?
Featured series 
