Nation & World

Moderator Graham Allison went straight to the heart of the matter during an Institute of Politics forum on Syria at the Kennedy School, asking the four panelists for a yes or no vote on military force.

Three spring 2013 fellows at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, in collaboration with the Nieman Journalism Lab, this week launched an oral history/research multimedia project called “Riptide” to document the digital disruption of the news business and what that means for the future of news gathering and news publishing.

A sample of how Harvard graduate students from the Law School, Kennedy School, Business School, and the School of Public Health used the tools they sharpened at Harvard to help build a better world.

It was the Muslim Brotherhood’s success at the ballot box and the poor prospects for opposition candidates in future elections that were at the root of last summer’s military takeover in Egypt, a Harvard Kennedy School Middle East specialist said Sept. 5.

The Kennedy School’s Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. diplomat, discusses the crisis in Syria and where it is likely to lead.

Established in 2006, the São Paulo, Brazil, office of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies acts as a facilitator, connecting Harvard faculty and students with Brazilian collaborators.

Harvard Professors Eric Mazur and Gary King, together with postdoctoral fellow Brian Lukoff, took an idea about how to change classroom teaching and created a company based on it. When the company sold last spring, it didn’t even own a stapler.

Harvard Business School Professor Teresa Amabile compares much of work life to running on a treadmill. People try to keep up with the demands of meetings, email, interruptions, deadlines, all while trying to be more productive and creative, she says, yet on many days they seem to make no progress at all, especially in creative endeavors. Amabile suggests the answer is to do less.

Thousands will join President Obama at the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and celebrate a powerful moment in the Civil Rights Movement. The commemoration stirs not only potent memories of that day, but for some with Harvard ties, mixed emotions about the march’s lasting legacy.

The Gazette spoke with Harvard’s E. Roger Owen, A. J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History Emeritus, about the build-up to chaos in Egypt.

Harvard’s role in an increasingly connected world includes deep ties to Latin America, where faculty and students are engaged in a range of research projects and initiatives, from climate research in Brazil to disaster relief work in Chile to protecting Maya art and architecture in Honduras.

In a presentation to an educators’ conference, HGSE’s Steven Seidel explored how joyfully blending the arts into education leads to successful teaching.

HBS Professor Joseph Badaracco trains students for the complexities of the business world by examining great works of literature.

The Director’s Internship Program at Harvard’s Institute of Politics is proving that not all millennials doubt that government and politics can be used for good.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Tuesday promised that the Obama administration will “engage” on climate change issues during its last three years. Her policy speech at Harvard Law School was her first since being confirmed to the post.

Harvard experts examine high court rulings, as well as the political, cultural, and social factors that have ushered in a wave of support for marriage equality.

The U.S. Supreme Court returned the question of affirmative action in college admissions to the lower courts for reconsideration.

Civil Rights activist James Meredith, who famously fought to be admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi in 1962, received the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s highest honor when he was awarded its Medal for Education Impact during its recent convocation.

Harvard History Professor Caroline Elkins discusses last week’s $30 million settlement in the long-running Mau Mau case, in which the British government apologized for colonial-era atrocities during Kenya’s Mau Mau rebellion.

James Ryan, one of the nation’s leading scholars in education law and policy, has been named dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In a question-and-answer session, he explains his motivations, his work, and his goals.

From the Bible to Walt Whitman to the history of China, and from architecture to national security to clinical trials, HarvardX’s fall offerings feature a broad range of disciplines.

Patrick Harlan ’93 drifted into Japan on a Glee Club trip the summer after he graduated from Harvard and quickly found his way to the stage, becoming a well-known comedian and a regular face on Japanese television. Harlan talked to the Gazette about his offbeat journey.

Viridiana Rios is a native of Mexico City. Rios, a graduating doctoral student in Harvard’s Department of Government, also is an adviser to Mexico’s minister of finance.

Anne Bholene Akinyi Odera-Awuor, who is getting a degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has grand plans to improve how schools operate in her homeland.

He grew up poor in Prague, but Jirka Jelinek ’13 used his College years to learn, grow, and discover other parts of the world.

Suzie Verdin will graduate with a degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Arts in Education program, and hopes to use it to help people in immigrant communities connect with the arts.

A sexual abuse victim and champion surfer, Mary Setterholm plans to use her degree from Harvard Divinity School to help others find their way back.

Joyce Klein Rosenthal of the Graduate School of Design spoke to the Gazette about lessons from past disasters and possible first steps toward rebuilding following the devastation of last Monday’s massive tornado in Moore, Okla.

Harvard researchers have combined new technology with old to better understand conditions in the war-torn border region between Sudan and South Sudan.

Kate McFarlin, president of the Harvard Club of Shanghai, wears her dual enthusiasms for Harvard and China on her sleeve.