Nation & World

All Nation & World

  • Digging up the past

    Harvard archaeology Professor Matthew Liebmann sat down with the Gazette to talk about his research, how his field has reckoned with the past, and how both influence his teaching.

    Matt Liebmann
  • No visible bruises

    Rachel Louise Snyder spoke with Diane Rosenfeld, a lecturer and director of the Gender Violence Program at Harvard Law School, about her book “No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Abuse Can Kill Us.”

    broken glass
  • Portrait of the revolutionary as a young man

    Jonathan M. Hansen’s biography of Fidel Castro’s early years aims to “get past the demonization and celebration and recover the complex person in the middle.”

    Young Fidel Castro in 1957.
  • Message in the dust

    An unusual find during a Harvard Summer School program archaeological dig teaches students the fundamentals at one of Peru’s most important sites.

  • Bacow sits down with lawmakers

    Larry Bacow visited the nation’s capital this week to meet with members of Congress to discuss a range of University priorities, including the effects of federal immigration policy on faculty and students at Harvard and at universities across the nation. The visit comes on the heels of a letter Bacow sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan last week urging them to expedite the visa and immigration process for foreign students and researchers.

    Harvard President Larry Bacow speaking in Washington, D.C.
  • Simmer nears boil in Hong Kong

    The Gazette spoke with China expert Anthony Saich, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School, about the protests and about what the future might hold for Hong Kong.

    A mass of protesters march in Hong Kong.
  • Water, life, and climate change in South Asia

    In his latest book, Sunil Amrith, the Mehra Family Professor of South Asian Studies and chair of the Department of South Asian Studies, describes the ageless link between water and prosperity in South Asia and examines the new challenges of climate change.

    Images of raindrops on a windshield in India
  • Stonewall then and now

    Harvard scholars reflect on the history and legacy of the 1969 Stonewall demonstrations that triggered the contemporary battle for LGBT rights in America.

    Stonewall protestors
  • Halting urban violence seen as a key to ending poverty

    Harvard Kennedy School researcher and former Obama official Thomas Abt’s new book offers a concrete prescription for bringing peace to the streets.

    Thomas Abt walking on city street.
  • How workplace harassment programs fail

    Corporate America began embracing workplace initiatives to end harassment nearly a half century ago. So why is it still a big problem?

    Silhouette of a business woman with documents
  • The sparring over trade

    Far more than avocados and Modelo beer will be affected if the U.S. follows through on threats to start taxing Mexico, China, and other countries. Sustained disputes could destabilize the global economy, prompt an economic downturn, and pose national security risks.

    Workers sort freshly harvested bananas to be exported, at a farm in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico.
  • Women’s World Cup cheat sheet

    Chris Hamblin, a Bristol, England, native and the Branca Family Head Coach for Harvard Women’s Soccer, analyzes the teams and players to watch during the world’s biggest soccer tournament.

  • The Modi mandate

    The Gazette talks about India’s second-term prime minister, Narendra Modi, with Harvard Kennedy School fellow Ashutosh Varshney, who recently returned from observing the country’s national elections.

    Ashutosh Varshney explains the impact of India's election to an audience
  • Generation Merkel at Harvard

    The Gazette speaks with members of Harvard’s Generation Merkel in advance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s commencement speech.

    A group of German students talking
  • Angela Merkel, the scientist who became a world leader

    In advance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s arrival at Harvard as its Commencement speaker, those who know her describe her rise to global prominence.

    Angela Merkel.
  • Unpacking the power of poverty

    Social scientists have long understood that a child’s environment can have long-lasting effects on their success later in life. Exactly how is less well understood. A new Harvard study points to a handful of key indicators, including exposure to high lead levels, violence, and incarceration, as key predictors of children’s later success.

    Professor Robert Sampson
  • Amid India elections, Harvard study aligns data with constituencies

    A team at the Center for Population and Development Studies and the Center for Geographic Analysis has remapped a trove of health and wellness data to align it with political districts in India, to help voters in the world’s largest democracy better decide how to vote in the six-week election.

    S.V. Subramanian.
  • Bacow stresses educational, civic partnerships

    Harvard President Larry Bacow met with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego ’04 and city manager Ed Zuercher during a trip to Phoenix to discuss the partnership between Harvard and the city that began in 2017, as part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. He also visited Houston.

    Larry Bacow shakes hands with Phoenix mayor
  • Intelligence matters

    Former intelligence officers, lawmakers, national security analysts, and top journalists discussed some of the ethical and moral issues in intelligence work and looked at the current challenges facing those in the field during a conference this week hosted by the Intelligence Project, a program of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

    two people speaking on a panel
  • Women lead Rwanda’s renaissance

    A quarter-century after genocide killed as many as a million Rwandans, the country’s women are leading its renaissance.

    five women speaking on a panel
  • ‘We can do our part to stop the destruction’

    In advance of a conference on climate change and Amazonia on May 7‒8 at Harvard, the Gazette interviewed Davi Kopenawa, an indigenous leader who is known as “Brazil’s Dalai Lama of the Rainforest.”

    Shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomami
  • Rebuilding a French masterpiece

    The Gazette recently spoke to noted architect and Harvard alumnus John H. Beyer about how the monumental task of restoring and preserving Notre-Dame will likely be approached and about the possibilities for introducing modern elements to the historic landmark.

    Overhead view of fire-damaged Notre-Dame cathedral.
  • Dispelling regional stereotypes

    A group of first-year joint-degree students from Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and representatives from West Virginia’s government and its flagship school, West Virginia University, exchanged trips.

  • A lifeline to India’s farmers on the edge of despair

    Harvard Kennedy School student’s nonprofit to help poor farmers in India wins Mittal South Asia Institute innovation prize.

    Vikas Birhma '19 (right) is announced as the winner for the organization Gramhal.
  • Negative ‘Impact’ on learning

    New research from Assistant Professor in Sociology Joscha Legewie links the aggressive policing of New York City’s Operation Impact with lower test scores for African American boys.

    Joscha Legewie.
  • A ringing defense of Trump on trade

    President Trump’s trade czar, Peter Navarro, said during a speech at Harvard that the administration’s efforts to remake American trade policies, pressure China to reform its practices, and revamp the tariff system are boosting the American economy.

    Peter Navarro at the podium
  • ‘The same in private as they are in public’

    Shorenstein Center Fellow Miguel Head, who served for a decade as chief of staff and press secretary to Prince William and Prince Harry, talks about the royals and the changing role of the British press

    Prince Harry and Meghan
  • In the crosshairs of an academic crackdown

    Sociologist Amy Austin Holmes, an associate professor at the American Unviersity in Cairo and a visiting scholar at the Weatherhead Center, thought her research was “safe” — until she was labeled an operative by Egypt’s authoritarian regime.

    In northern Syria, Amy Austin Holmes conducts interviews
  • Parsing the Mueller report

    Hours after the release of the Mueller report, the Gazette asks Harvard professor and former prosecutor Alex Whiting what it all means.

  • Raising successful kids

    A Q&A with Ronald Ferguson, director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard, about his new book on how to raise successful children based on interviews with highly accomplished young people and their parents.

    Ronald Ferguson.