Nation & World

Giving a talk at the American Enterprise Institute in D.C., Harvard President Larry Bacow reaffirmed his support for colleges and universities and his belief that they can help change the world, despite fears Americans are increasingly questioning the value of a college degree.

With the launch of a new national initiative and a network of district partners, the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University will partner with rural schools to move the needle on absenteeism and college readiness and enrollment.

Harvard Professor Erica Chenoweth discovers nonviolent civil resistance is far more successful in effecting change than violent campaigns.

With input from Harvard and other educational institutions, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts submitted written comments this week to the U.S. Department of Education, responding to its proposed changes to Title IX.

As Super Bowl LIII approaches, political reporter Mark Leibovich, now a national correspondent for The New York Times magazine and author of the 2013 best-seller “This Town,” discusses the intersection of politics and the National Football League.

A conference at the Edmond J. Safra Center will examine the life and works of the late Harvard Professor John Rawls, whom many consider the father of modern political philosophy.

Weeks into a federal government shutdown over the president’s request for money to build a border wall to keep out migrants coming from Central America and Mexico, Harvard analysts discuss the practical, legal, and historical implications of Donald Trump’s possible move to declare a national emergency to bypass congressional opposition.

A student-mounted exhibition probes the ties and tensions between slavery and Christianity during centuries of American bondage.

Two efforts at Harvard are helping state and city officials in Boston and around the nation frame their early policy thinking around autonomous vehicles.

On a spring break trip sponsored by the Harvard Alumni Association, two College students learn a lesson in common humanity.

During Israel visit, Harvard Divinity School students tracked movements of the historical Jesus.

The community group Unidos por Utuado has won $100,000 in seed funding from the Puerto Rico Big Ideas Challenge to implement a plan — designed by Harvard students — for renewable and affordable electricity.

Former Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, who has held numerous top posts in the State Department and on Capitol Hill and led the U.S. negotiations with Iran over nuclear weapons that resulted in a historic 2015 accord, is set to helm the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School in January. She talks to the Gazette about her plans and her view of U.S. foreign policy today.

Members of the Harvard community heard different messages as Malala Yousafzai accepted the 2018 Gleitsman Award.

Fresh from their 2018 midterm victories, 63 newly elected members of Congress spent two days at Harvard Kennedy School this week engaging with students and getting an intensive primer from faculty and special guests on what to expect when they take their seats in January.

When lawyer and social activist Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, spoke at the Kennedy School Tuesday, his topic was nothing less than changing the world, something that he urged everyone in the capacity crowd to think of as both a responsibility and a possibility.

NYU philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah will draw from his new book, “The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity,” when he visits Harvard Medical School to deliver the 2018 George W. Gay Lecture.

Monika Bickert, the head of global policy management for Facebook, discussed the social media giant’s policies and evolution with Harvard’s Jonathan Zittrain.

Environmental fellow Michael Ford and climate scientist Daniel Schrag say that improved nuclear power could play an important role in U.S. energy production midcentury and beyond.

During a visit to Harvard, former Secretary of State John Kerry encourages students to do more than show up to vote: to take action.

During a Harvard visit, Caroline Kennedy recalls her years as ambassador to Japan, including President Obama’s trip to Hiroshima.

In an interview, Harvard’s Paul Reville explains the goals of an upcoming conference that invites mayors, school officials, and community leaders to discuss how to drive meaningful educational reform.

An interview with Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and 2016 Peace Prize winner for his efforts to negotiate an agreement that ended a 50-year-long internal conflict and brought peace to Colombia.

It’s debatable whether the midterm elections delivered a demonstrably better night for Democrats than Republicans. But it was inarguably a big win for pollsters, says FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver at Harvard’s Political Analytics Conference.

Yee Htun, a Myanmar native who immigrated to Canada as a refugee and returned to work as a human rights lawyer in her native country, now teaches human rights advocacy at Harvard Law School.

A high-level intelligence group gathered at Harvard Kennedy School to analyze current relations between the U.S. and Russia, and gauge future goals of each.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor comes to Harvard Law School to talk to students, suggests that judges cooperate more.

A Harvard Chan School panel reacted to a report that lists the opioid crisis and the economy as top concerns for Americans in rural areas.

Democratic and Republican strategists came together at Harvard Kennedy School to unpack the midterm election results. In their wake, the panelists agreed that political cooperation may get even rarer in the next two years.

Harvard faculty discuss the results of the midterm election and what they portend for governing the nation over the next two years and for the run-up to the presidential election in 2020.