Nation & World

All Nation & World

  • Marking the passing of a grim pandemic milestone for the nation

    Harvard scholars reflect on the death toll from the novel coronavirus.

    Tiny flags marking those who died from COVID.
  • Undoing injustice

    Harvard Law School alum Omavi Shukur went into law to improve his fellow Arkansans’s material reality, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

    A collage of images of Omavi with a map of Arkansas
  • Miles home

    Harvard College alum and community organizer Sav Miles is working to facilitate collective action among local Christians in their hometown of Gadsden, Alabama.

    A collage of photos on top of a map of Alabama
  • Hope in darkness

    Rev. Mel Kawakami brought his experience in supporting those dealing with tragedy to Sandy Hook, Connecticut, just when they needed it most.

    Kawakami holding two children
  • Will Tuesday’s presidential debate change the course of the election?

    Analysts discuss what may happen at the first presidential debate Tuesday night between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, and talk about how they would coach the candidates.

    Biden and Trump.
  • Through lines

    Vivekae Kim and Meena Venkataramanan are using engaging, intimate journalism to highlight the untold stories of immigration.

    Collage of map and images of Arizona and photo of Vivekae Kim and Meena Venkataramanan
  • Fertile ground

    Harvard College alum Julian Miller has created a center for justice in his home state of Mississippi that aims to foster lasting change.

    Collage of image and map of Mississippi and photo of Julian D. Miller
  • Bringing law to life

    Sarah Sadlier’s interest in Native American history and law isn’t purely academic. It’s also deeply personal.

    Collage of map and image of North Dakota and photos of Sarah Sadlier
  • Pinning down success

    Educator, wrestling coach, and Harvard College alum Ken Kakesako is finding creative ways to pin down success for his fellow Hawaiians.

    Collage of map and images of Hawaii and photo of Ken Kakesako
  • Challenges mount for election officials

    Pandemic procedural complications and crises of voter confidence all but ensure a rocky election.

    Voting illustration.
  • ‘What’s at stake is the future of the country’

    Ruth Simmons, who testified during the admissions trial in support of Harvard’s admissions practices, spoke with the Gazette about the importance of diversity in education.

    Ruth Simmons.
  • How far right will Trump’s nominee move the Supreme Court?

    Harvard professor discusses how far right Trump’s nominee could move the Supreme Court.

    Ruth Bader Ginsburg casket at top of Supreme Court stairs.
  • As Indian Country bears brunt of the pandemic, new calls on Washington to act

    Panelists hosted by the Harvard Project of American Indian Economic Development said Congress has been slow to deliver the direct relief it promised last spring.

    Sharice Davids.
  • Improving improvements

    Thomas Kane and Jennifer Ash are working to improve outcomes for students in Ohio by helping school districts find solutions that work for them

    Thomas Kane and Jennifer Ash talking to each other in the office
  • Pollster looks at how pandemic, loss of RBG may affect election

    Polling methodology expert Chase Harrison talks about why the 2020 election polls can explain how COVID-19 may reshape the vote, and offers some useful insights into the presidential race.

    Chase Harrison
  • Sea change

    Harvard Business School alum Jonathan Stone has spent over 30 years working to protect Narragansett Bay, one of Rhode Island’s most important natural resources.

    Collage of map and image of Rhode Island and photo of Jonathan Stone
  • A portrait of JFK, in full

    Fredrik Logevall’s biography on John F. Kennedy aims to chronicle a complex life amid a pivotal time for a nation.

    Congressman John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1946-47.s
  • The life and legacy of RBG

    As the country mourns the death of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at 87, the Gazette asked members of the Harvard community to reflect on her legacy.

    Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
  • Getting out the vote

    Tova Wang spoke with the Gazette about how young Americans can get political leaders to listen to them and persuade cynical friends or family members that every ballot matters.

    Illustration of balloons that say vote.
  • Appeals court hears arguments in admissions case

    A three-judge panel heard oral arguments Wednesday in the appeal of a ruling last fall that found Harvard’s admissions policies do not discriminate on the basis of race.

    Widener Library at Harvard.
  • Science and citizenship

    Over the course of 10 weeks this summer, Harvard Medical School graduate students spent their time outside of the lab working at the Massachusetts State House as fellows in the Scientific Citizenship Initiative.

    State House
  • In this election, ‘costly signal deployment’

    As the 2020 presidential campaign rhetoric heats up, Harvard experimental psychologist Joshua D. Greene, who studies the science behind tribal instincts and moral judgments, looks at the strategy behind President Trump’s increasingly provocative, extreme language.

    Harvard Professor of Psychology Joshua Greene.
  • Report finds fathers feel closer to children during pandemic

    Recent Harvard research has uncovered one significant — if perhaps fleeting — silver lining for fathers and children during the coronavirus pandemic. Fathers across the U.S., many of whom now work at home due to coronavirus lockdowns, are feeling closer to their children.

    Father and daughter drawing.
  • Dissecting racial disparities in Mass. criminal justice system

    Brook Hopkins and Felix Owusu are two of the authors on a report on racial disparities in Massachusetts state prisons

    Boston's Moakley Courthouse.
  • Helping teachers and principals confront their own racism

    Interview with Sarah Fiarman and Tracey Benson, former school principals and HGSE graduates, who co-wrote “Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism” to help teachers and school leaders start conversations about race in schools.

    Tracey Benson
  • Why some Americans refuse to social distance and wear masks

    Michael Sandel offers up his thoughts on what we owe others in the age of coronavirus.

    Person wearing mask with question mark.
  • Crowd-sourcing the story of a people

    Tiya Miles, a professor of history and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, spoke to the Gazette about the vital role of public history in shaping American cultural understanding.

    Tiya Miles
  • Defining a centennial

    A panel discussed the political experiences of Black women in the years between the ratification of the 19th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    Anna Murray-Douglass (from left), Marcus Garvey with Amy Jacques Garvey, and Elizabeth Freeman.
  • How rape culture shapes whether a survivor is believed

    New political science research from Harvard Kennedy School faculty and alumna finds that rape culture bias not only is real, but it shapes how people determine what a believable case looks like, who is likely a victim, and in what circumstances rape is less likely to take place.

    Illustration of scales of justice.
  • Faith in the ballot

    How white evangelicals tour the nation’s capital and redeem a Christian America.