Nation & World

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Helen Whitney opens a three-day series of William Belden Noble lectures titled “Spiritual Landscapes: A Life in Film.” Her work draws out examples of how faith can foster not only inner peace, but also public turmoil.

What will the next generation of social entrepreneurs need to succeed? Analysts debated the future of the budding field — and Harvard students demonstrated it — at Harvard Kennedy School on Feb. 24.

Though India shares global concerns about the possible development of nuclear weapons by Iran and is working to reduce its reliance on Iranian oil, India needs to continue fuel imports that are critical to the welfare of millions of people, said India’s ambassador to the United States.

As leaders in government and business search for ways to strengthen the U.S. recovery, new research from faculty at Harvard and Columbia indicates that elementary school teachers have an impact on how much their students earn as adults and, by extension, on the nation’s economy.

A panel of scholars made up of the directors of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centers met to discuss how to promote better understanding between the Islamic world and the West.

As Iran moves closer to having a nuclear weapon, Israel faces an existential moment.

Annemarie Ryu ’13 hopes to create an American market for tasty, nutritious jackfruit, while helping to support struggling Indian farmers at the same time.

America’s tenuous relationship with Pakistan has faced one test after another in the past year. To rebuild trust and form a true partnership, both sides have to accept blame, said Cameron Munter, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, at Harvard Kennedy School on Feb. 13.

New York City’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) was named the winner of the Innovations in American Government Award today by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government.

Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein visited Harvard Law School for a talk sponsored by the HLS Forum and the Harvard Law Record. At the event, both men discussed what they called lawless and violent practices by the White House and its agencies that have become institutionalized by both political parties.

Despite historical links to natural disasters, the modern world’s global food web means that famines today are created more by man than by nature. Officials say a famine just ending in Somalia was caused by a failure of international early warning systems and the local Al-Shabaab militia blocking food aid.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called for large-scale educational reform during a talk at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

Historians can prove useful in a courtroom, a case involving Kenyan abuse reveals, and they can learn a lot too.

The Harvard Initiative for Learning & Teaching sponsored a daylong conference that united experts and scholars from the University and beyond to debate, discuss, and share ideas on innovative pedagogy.

In a conversation that ranged from the recent parliamentary elections to the ongoing sexual abuse of women to a new wave of journalists, panelists at the Feb. 2 Harvard Kennedy School Forum on Egypt expressed both fear and hope for a country still in the midst of a revolution.

At an event sponsored by the Harvard Law School (HLS) American Constitution Society on Tuesday, HLS Professor Lawrence Lessig, author of “Republic Lost,” and Jeff Clements, author of “Corporations Are Not People,” reviewed the impact that Citizens United has had on the political process.

Cambodian writer Tararith Kho, who grew up amid war and pushed relentlessly to be educated, is now a Harvard Scholars at Risk fellow. His weapons are well-turned words.

Harvard Business School just sent all 900 first-year M.B.A. students into the field to solve real-world problems in emerging markets from Buenos Aires to Mumbai, in the most ambitious element of an experimental new course. HBS, pioneer of the celebrated case-study method, is working to craft a business education model for the 21st century.

A Harvard Kennedy School panel assembled to discuss “Is War on the Way Out?,” the oddly counterintuitive notion that violence, among both individuals and states, is on the wane, or at least on a downward trajectory.

Reports of an ongoing study examine the role of classroom observation in helping to determine effective teaching.

Over the past several years, Harvard University has been ramping up its involvement in India and South Asia, a trend catalyzed by Harvard’s South Asia Initiative, which was founded in 2003 to foster the University’s engagement in the region. Harvard’s understanding of the region’s importance is highlighted by President Drew Faust’s January visit to India.

Students in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education convened last week to examine how to address some of the world’s educational challenges.

Many nations are watching the succession of Kim Jong-un to the leadership of North Korea, hoping a smooth transition will lead to economic reforms and opportunities to limit the further development of nuclear weapons, a Harvard panel said.

In a paper published last year, Harvard professors David Laibson and Brigitte Madrian argued that employers should design investment menus for their employees that facilitate good choices, “rather than assuming that giving people every option under the sun will lead to the right decision.” The report, co-authored with James Choi of Yale, was recently honored with the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award.

To conservatives, the Tea Partiers are patriots; to liberals, they’re a scourge on progress and civil society. Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, used different terms to describe the activists to undergraduates: grandma and grandpa.

Sponsored by the Harvard Club of Boston and the Harvard Alumni Association, “Networking NOW: The Learn-How-to-Network Event” was a multifaceted event, underscoring how business networking is a skill that can be learned, practiced, honed, and perfected.

The Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching, created with a $40 million gift from Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser, will host a symposium to explore excellence and innovation in the field.

Harvard is increasing its engagement in India and surrounding South Asian nations in an effort to better understand a part of the world that is growing in global importance. Harvard President Drew Faust visits India this month.

Activists from across Africa and the Middle East drew from on-the-ground experience in a discussion of women’s role in peace efforts at John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

A new research paper co-authored by Harvard Kennedy School Professor Rohini Pande finds that the system designating female leaders for selected village councils in India has resulted in substantive gains for girls in those villages — both in terms of aspirations and educational outcomes.