Year: 2008

  • Nation & World

    Surgeon describes horrors that ensue when rape is a ‘weapon of war’

    Denis Mukwege, a recent visitor to Harvard, is slow-spoken, weary, and grave. And well he might be. For nearly a decade, Mukwege has been doctor to thousands of women raped in the course of a long civil war in south central Africa — in effect, that continent’s World War II — which has so far…

  • Nation & World

    Sachs insists new technologies essential

    Jeffrey Sachs, the internationally renowned economist, returned to his alma mater Monday (April 14) to give his prescription for saving the world. Sustainable development, he said, is the “central challenge of our time.”

  • Campus & Community

    Krister Stendahl, 86, was HDS dean from 1968-1979

    Krister Stendahl, who played a crucial role in shaping the life and work of Harvard Divinity School (HDS), just as he was also a pioneer in the broader realm of ecumenical relations, died on April 15 at the age of 86.

  • Arts & Culture

    Cultural creativity in the Ethiopian diaspora

    A Radcliffe Fellow this year, Kaufman Shelemay was co-organizer of “Cultural Creativity in the Ethiopian American Diaspora,” a conference held at Harvard this week (April 13-14).

  • Arts & Culture

    Hamlisch offers vital audition advice

    The multigifted and much-admired musical composer Marvin Hamlisch taught a master class in the New College Theatre on “The Art of the Audition” recently (April 9) under the auspices of Learning From Performers.

  • Arts & Culture

    Lens on politics: Life in Serbia, Kosovo

    Impulse, activism, and perhaps a bit of naiveté. That’s what led Jeff Silva, a teaching assistant in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, to make his way to war-torn Belgrade just days after the NATO bombing campaign ended in June of 1999.

  • Arts & Culture

    Bollywood under a lens

    Richard Delacy, preceptor in Sanskrit and Indian studies, flicks off the lights in his classroom and cues the video projector. A few students shift in their seats as the opening credits for “Khalnayak,” a renowned Bollywood film, roll across the screen.

  • Arts & Culture

    Iraqi film series offers rare glimpse into bleak world

    Beginning today through Saturday (April 17-19), the Tsai Auditorium at the Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) will host selections from the first international Iraq Short Film Festival (originally held in Baghdad in 2005).

  • Arts & Culture

    South Africa’s ‘ace’

    There are a thousand new HIV infections a day in South Africa, Pieter-Dirk Uys told an audience at Zero Arrow Theatre this week (April 14), during a public conversation sponsored by the Humanities Center at Harvard.

  • Arts & Culture

    The perils of historical fiction

    Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, author of the celebrated “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” delivered the Tanner Lectures at Harvard last week (April 9-11).

  • Campus & Community

    This month in Harvard history

    April 14, 1944 — In honor of the 50th anniversary of the American movie industry, Warner Brothers presents the Harvard Film Service with a reprint of a 150-foot film of Mark Twain made in 1907 by Thomas Edison with a hand-cranked camera.

  • Campus & Community

    Police reports

    Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending April 14. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

  • Campus & Community

    In brief

    Harvard Bridge Program, IOP recognize 23 new citizens; Cash Receipts Office set for May move; Children invited to ‘Sarcophagi Up-Close’ at Semitic Museum; Memorial Church auction tonight; Last call for artists; East Asian Legal Studies accepting submissions until May 2

  • Campus & Community

    Cambridge Health Alliance, HMS award honors Auerbach

    John M. Auerbach, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, received the Ruth M. Batson Social Justice Award April 15 at Harvard Medical School’s “Reflection in Action: Building Healthy Communities” celebration.

  • Campus & Community

    Longtime Harvard staff member Hoppe dead at 88

    Retired Harvard University staff member Ruth Hoppe died April 2 at Mount Auburn Hospital. She was 88. A 30-year employee at the Widener Library at Harvard University, Hoppe worked in the interlibrary loan department.

  • Campus & Community

    Knowles memorial service to be held May 30

    A memorial service for Jeremy R. Knowles will be held May 30 at 11 a.m. at the Memorial Church.

  • Campus & Community

    Social Science Research Council gives grant to Harvard centers

    The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) has awarded $52,289 to three Harvard centers: the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and the Harvard Asia Center.

  • Campus & Community

    Hammonds opens faculty diversity forum

    Evelynn Hammonds, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies and senior vice provost for Faculty Development and Diversity (FD&D) opened a three-day forum last Friday (April 11) at the Charles Hotel titled “Advancing and Empowering Scholars: Transforming the Landscape of the American Academy Through Faculty Diversity.”

  • Campus & Community

    Sports briefs

    GOLFERS PLACE SECOND AT ROAR-EE; SOFTBALL SWINGS WEEKEND SWEEP; BROWN POURS IT ON VS. WATER POLO

  • Campus & Community

    Racquet men blast Quakers, Tigers

    In the middle of last Friday’s (April 11) men’s tennis doubles match versus visiting Penn, the electronic scoreboard keeping track of court three stopped working. As the action went on undisrupted, the (temporarily nonfunctioning) scoreboard was hardly missed, or necessary.

  • Nation & World

    Money spent on others can buy happiness

    New research by one Harvard scholar implies that happiness can be found by spending money on others. Michael Norton, assistant professor of business administration in the marketing unit at the Harvard Business School (HBS), conducted a series of studies with his colleagues Elizabeth Dunn and Lara Aknin at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

  • Health

    Nobel Prize winner discusses judgment and intuition

    “Most of the time,” said noted psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman to a packed house of students, scholars, and faculty at the Yenching Auditorium (April 15), “we run at very low effort.” It was a sobering claim for the heady academic set, but according to Kahneman, no one is immune from the diagnosis. Even…

  • Campus & Community

    Digging spoons: GSD café has tableware fit for composting

    Beginning earlier in the spring semester, the Chauhaus café at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) started providing only tableware made from bio-based plastics fit for composting.

  • Campus & Community

    Going for the green at Harvard

    William James Hall and the Hoffman Labs have emerged victorious in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Environmental Competition 2008, Harvard’s biggest and most comprehensive eco-contest ever.

  • Health

    Genetics key in new knowledge about complex diseases

    Genetic researchers crossed a critical threshold last year in their ability to understand complex diseases, posting a number of new discoveries that advanced knowledge of ailments caused by small contributions from multiple genes, the environment, and other causes.

  • Health

    Haiti clinic makes real gains

    “13 October 2003.” Saintyl Louistess remembered the exact date she found out she had AIDS.

  • Health

    Elevated urate levels may slow progression of Parkinson’s disease

    Naturally elevated levels of the antioxidant urate may slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease in men.  Researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) and Harvard School of Public…

  • Campus & Community

    Mora to step down as vice president for finance

    Elizabeth Mora, a senior member of the University’s financial administration since 1997, today (April 15) announced her intention to step down as vice president for finance and chief financial officer.