Year: 2008

  • Science & Tech

    HMS introduces wilderness fellowship

    Snake bites, lightning strikes, hypothermia, tick bites, and avalanche injuries are not mishaps you ordinarily associate with Harvard Medical School (HMS), or with life in Boston.

    5 minutes
  • Health

    Experiment advances cell reprogramming understanding

    The announcement last year by scientists in Japan, at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), and at the Whitehead Institute that they had each — independently — coaxed adult cells into reverting to an embryonic stem cell-like state was arguably the biggest news in developmental biology since the cloning of Dolly the ewe.

    4 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Kennedy School’s student journals reflect their interests, policy passions

    The array of Harvard Kennedy School student journals reflects the wide range of their many contributors. From politics to international affairs to economics to the environment, no major policy issues are left unexplored, allowing student voices to be heard on the most important political matters of the day.

    2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Nieman names 28 fellows from U.S. and abroad

    The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard has named 28 journalists from the United States and abroad to the 71st class of Nieman Fellows. They include print reporters and editors, online journalists, columnists and editorial writers, broadcasters, a photojournalist, and a filmmaker.

    7 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Language can be an ambiguous heritage

    Two images fill a computer screen in Maria Polinsky’s language lab. On the left, a young boy is painting a portrait of a girl. On the right, the roles are reversed — the girl paints a portrait of the boy. Once the images are shown, Polinsky, professor of linguistics, plays a single recorded sentence for…

    7 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Mars’ water appears to have been too salty to support life

    A new analysis of the Martian rock that gave hints of water on the Red Planet — and, therefore, optimism about the prospect of life — now suggests the water…

    4 minutes
  • Health

    Genomic analysis gives new insights into cellular reprogramming

    A cross-disciplinary team of Harvard University, Whitehead Institute, and Broad Institute researchers has uncovered significant new information about the molecular changes that underlie the process by which adult cells can…

    3 minutes
  • Health

    Intestinal bacteria promote and prevent inflammatory bowel disease

    Scientists search for drug candidates in some very unlikely places. Not only do they churn out synthetic compounds in industrial-scale laboratories, but they also scour coral reefs and scrape tree bark in the hope of stumbling upon an unsuspecting molecule that just might turn into next year’s big block buster. But one region that scientists…

    5 minutes
  • Arts & Culture

    Acclaimed architect Renzo Piano to design major Fogg renovation

    There are many reasons to love the Harvard Art Museum. For one, an extensive collection of art transports you from ancient times into the present. Then there is the signature design of the Fogg Museum building at 32 Quincy St., with its evocative courtyard, modeled after the 16th century facade of a home in Montepulciano,…

    5 minutes
  • Arts & Culture

    Europe travels to Safavid Iran at Houghton

    Houghton Library’s newest exhibition — “From Rhubarb to Rubies: European Travels to Safavid Iran (1550-1700)” — explores European travel to Safavid Iran in the years 1550 to 1700, a time marked by significant cultural and scientific exchange between the two regions.

    1 minute
  • Arts & Culture

    Diane Paulus appointed artistic director of the American Repertory Theatre

    Harvard University and the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) announced today (May 16) the appointment of Diane Paulus as artistic director. She will be the third artistic leader of the A.R.T., following founding director Robert Brustein (1980–2002) and Robert Woodruff (2002–07).

    5 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Police reports

    Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending May 19. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

    2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    In brief

    The Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies of Harvard University is currently accepting submissions for its 2008 Noma-Reischauer Prizes in Japanese Studies, given to the undergraduate and graduate student with the best essays on Japan-related topics. The undergraduate award is $2,000 and the graduate award is $3,000. The deadline for submission is Monday, June…

    2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Newsmakers

    DEPT.OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES AWARDS PRIZES HUMBOLDT FOUNDATION ELECTS VISITING PROFESSOR KOBAYASHI GILDER LEHRMAN SCHOLAR NAMED ACKERMAN PRESENTS ADDRESS AT ITALIAN CONFERENCE CHA’S KEEFE RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD GOMES TO FETE ORDINATION ANNIVERSARY

    4 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Advisory

    On Wednesday (May 21), a male undergraduate student reported that he was the victim of an assault and battery at approximately 8:55 a.m.

    1 minute
  • Campus & Community

    Knowles memorial set for May 30

    A memorial service for former dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles will be held May 30 at 11 a.m. at the Memorial Church. The Amory Houghton Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Knowles died April 3.

    1 minute
  • Campus & Community

    Craig Hugh Smyth

    At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 6, 2008, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Craig Hugh Smyth, Director of Villa I Tatti Professor of Fine Arts, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Smyth was a promoter of the study and practice of art conservation.

    5 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Barrett Award presented to three

    Two Harvard seniors and a sophomore were honored as Joseph L. Barrett Award recipients at a special ceremony May 9. Administered by the Bureau of Study Counsel (BSC), the award commemorates Barrett, who was killed in an auto accident in his senior year (1973). The award recognizes promising young people at Harvard College who pursue…

    3 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Weatherhead awards doctoral candidates with research grants

    The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs has selected 11 Harvard doctoral candidates to receive pre- and mid-dissertation grants to conduct research on a project related to the core research interests of the center. In addition and for the first time in 2008, the center is awarding four foreign language grants to doctoral students to assist…

    2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    FAS recognizes extraordinary work of four with travel grant

    The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) wants four employees to pack their bags.

    4 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Jewish Center names prize winners

    The Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University recently announced the recipients of the 2008 Norman Podhoretz Prize in Jewish Studies and the Selma and Lewis Weinstein Prize in Jewish Studies.

    1 minute
  • Campus & Community

    University-wide career forum set for June 10

    Employment Services, collaborating with a University-wide organizing committee, is hosting its 10th annual career forum on June 10. The event will be held at the Graduate School of Design’s Gund Hall, 48 Quincy St. It will be open to the public from 4 to 6:30 p.m.

    1 minute
  • Campus & Community

    How to move out and stay green at same time

    With the end of the academic year fast approaching, the temptation to purge all obsolete office and school materials is stronger than ever. But to maintain Harvard’s impressive 50 percent recycling rate, Harvard’s University Operations Services (UOS) wishes to remind the community to continue recycling all materials whenever possible.

    2 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus names this year’s award recipient

    The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus (HGLC) has announced that Martin Duberman Ph.D. ’57 will receive the HGLC Founding Father Award. It will be presented to Duberman at the caucus’ annual Commencement Day dinner (June 5) at Lowell House.

    3 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    Harvard students step up to the plate

    Twice a week since March, a group of Harvard College students has been meeting at Johnston Gate every Monday and Thursday to take the Red Line train from Harvard Square to Fields Corner in Dorchester, and then walk to the John Marshall Elementary School where they are part of the Marshall After-School (MAS) pilot program.

    4 minutes
  • Campus & Community

    School volunteers honored with Mack Davis Award for 50,000 hours of service

    At a special reception on May 14, Cambridge School Volunteers (CSV) honored nearly 900 volunteers who served in grades K-12 of the Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) during the 2007-08 academic year. Together, the volunteers provided more than 50,000 hours of individualized academic services to Cambridge youth. The reception was held at the Gutman Library of…

    1 minute
  • Science & Tech

    How to move out and stay green at same time

    With the end of the academic year fast approaching, the temptation to purge all obsolete office and school materials is stronger than ever. But to maintain Harvard’s impressive 50 percent recycling rate, Harvard’s University Operations Services (UOS) wishes to remind the community to continue recycling all materials whenever possible. All old documents, books, folders, magazines,…

    2 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Costa Rican minister outlines plan to achieve carbon neutrality through reforms

    Costa Rica’s environment minister outlined the Central American nation’s plans to become carbon neutral by 2021 through green reforms in energy, transportation, government, and private industry sectors.

    4 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Undergrads create ‘dirt-powered’ light for Africa

    A team composed of Harvard students and alumni was among the winners of the World Bank’s Lighting Africa 2008 Development Marketplace competition, held in Accra, Ghana, from May 6 to 8, 2008. The team’s innovation, microbial fuel cell-based lighting systems suitable for sub-Saharan Africa, netted the Harvard group a $200,000 prize.

    4 minutes
  • Science & Tech

    Ashton: A legacy written in trunk, limb, and leaf

    They were in a bind, no doubt about it.

    10 minutes