Around Town
Cribs: Apthorp House
Tucked away in Randolph Courtyard, removed from the chaos of Cambridge, Apthorp House is one of the city’s oldest surviving houses. FM was granted an exclusive tour from the current Housemasters of Adams, Judith “Judy” S. Palfrey ’67 and John “Sean” G. Palfrey VI ’67. Come with us as we check out the Palfreys’ crib (literally).
Chatting over Cheddar: Inside Harvard's Wisconsin Club
I had originally planned to attend a Wisconsin Club meeting, but the group does not schedule organized gatherings, per se—more on that later. I needed another Wisconsin-related venue for the interview, and with an understanding of the state based mostly on “That 70’s Show,” only cheddar cheese and cow-tipping came to mind. Cheese was the more legal option, so I chose the deli for our venue.
Get Out: Harvard Groups and Their Retreats Into Nature
Skis and skates are strewn all over the weathered floor. Maps of the world and photographs that seem to be ripped straight from the pages of National Geographic line the paneled walls. There are no beds, but sleeping bags stack all the way to the ceiling. Crowded cabinets and bookshelves are counterbalanced by a random array of plush chairs and couches. This is not a wood cabin settled in the snowy mountains of Utah: nestled within the brick walls of Adams House, this is the office of the Harvard Outing Club.
Falik's Restroom Streak
Up at the Law School, in the recently constructed Wasserstein Hall, there’s a restroom with a curious moniker. A plaque outside the sleek facilities proclaims, to any and all, that they are in the presence of the “Falik Men’s Room.”
Unconferencing the Digital Humanities
It’s early Saturday afternoon, and in the basement of the Graduate School of Education, people gather around a seminar table to intently edit Wikipedia articles. Next door, a group discusses the challenges involved with getting blog posts to count toward tenure tracks. Programming later today will range from exploration of text matching software, pioneers of synthetic synaesthesia, and the subtle difference between digital preservation and conservation.
Can You Ring My Bell?
“Basically we want to teach you. We want to show you the ropes,” says Dylan F. Perese ’17. The ropes Perese refers to are actually cables: heavy-duty ones with the strength to suspend the 25-tons-worth of bells that he and the other members of The Lowell House Society of Russian Bell Ringers play every Sunday.
Office Hours With Katherine K. Merseth
“We don’t have a fundamental agreement across the populace about why we have schools.”
Veggie Burger Chef
Pankaj Pradhan prepares a dish at his vegetarian restaurant The Red Lentil in Watertown, Mass. Pradhan designed HUDS’ new vegetarian offerings this year.
Out of the Army, Back to School
Israelis are not the only students at Harvard who have to factor in mandatory service to their education and career plans. Fifteen Minutes also spoke to students from South Korea—who typically take time off in the middle of college in order to complete their mandatory two years—and from Singapore about their transitions between service and scholarship.
Fifteen Minutes with Nicholas Kristof
FM sat down for fifteen minutes with Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times.
Uncovering the D-Hive
Prescott St. between Harvard St. and Broadway is quiet, unassuming. Nestled between the large Barker and Carpenter centers and smaller buildings, the street is half-shaded in the early afternoon.
The Enigma of Pinocchio’s Photos
A mishmash of photographs cover all of the walls save one, which instead features a seemingly arbitrary mural of a whale and a mermaid consuming pizza. Some photos are black and white, and some are in color. Some have one person and some have many; some have none at all. I am sure of one thing, though: they all must mean something.
Starting Up, Staying in School
On a recent Wednesday evening, four floors above Mt. Auburn Street in what is known as the “i-space,” a group of five Harvard students had claimed one small, stuffy office room to discuss the impending launch of their startup. Laptops open, bullet points scrawled on a whiteboard opposite a Rosie the Riveter poster, the group shifted easily between brainstorming and casual jokes.
Comparing Gods: The Study of Religion at Harvard
In a small office on the third floor of the Barker Center, students and a few professors congregate to ponder Christianity, Islam, Taosim, and every religion and spiritual practice in between. This is the headquarters for undergraduates studying religion at Harvard, where the approach is comparative and the range of interests is vast.
Ready to Run
On Monday, April 21 more than 36,000 people will run the Boston Marathon. A year after the bombings at the 2013 Marathon, enthusiasm for the race is higher than ever.
The Legend of the Z-List
The Z-list inhabits an especially remote cranny in the cave of Harvard lore. The core of the Z-list intrigue is exclusivity. As admission rates have plummeted, mystery has increased.
Get Out: Arnold Arboretum
As the school year drudges on, the brown and grey buildings of Cambridge can often feel as confining as our stacks of midterm papers and textbooks. But spring is here, and the sporadic weather can reward us with some gorgeous days. Grab some friends and escape the confines of campus for a day trip to the Arnold Arboretum, the urban nature center maintained by both Harvard and the City of Boston.
Get Out: Spring Break
Spring break plans fell through? Forgot to make plans at all? Don’t worry. If you’re stuck in Cambridge for this break, FM has you covered. We’ve planned out your first free day to distract you from the misery of a cold, empty campu
The Book Circle Across the Street
Once a month, a group of ten to 20 people push the shelves in the left room of the Harvard Book Store to make space for their discussion. They’ve just finished reading a book for the month’s meeting. The regulars exchange glances as they look around at the new faces.
Hey, Professor! Star in a Bottle
Construction will shortly begin on the long-anticipated International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor—a machine that, if it works, promises to solve most of the world’s energy problems for the next 30 million years. Howard M. Georgi ’68, a Harvard physics professor, sat down for a brief chat about how and whether ITER will actually work as well as its possible economic and political implications.
WHRB at 2 a.m.
It’s 2 a.m. on a Thursday night. Outside it’s freezing cold, pitch-black, and windy.
Scene and Heard: Ghungroo
6:23 p.m. I arrive at the Agassiz Theater and make my way to the main foyer, knowing that the show won’t start for another 40 minutes. A couple of parents stand eagerly at the front of a four-person “line” and point me towards the back. They tell an alum they’ve come from Southern California to watch their daughter, a senior, perform.