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The Pitfalls of Pity Pressure

By Libby E. Tseng
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This emptiness triggered in me the realization that I had come to Harvard for the wrong reasons. I had fruitlessly tried to use my education to shape others’ impression of me instead of using it to enrich my own life and the lives of others. Remembering my dad, I knew his sacrifices were made for my happiness, not for me to convince others of it. I needed to let go of how others saw me and my circumstances, and had to start living for myself.

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Columns

The Humanities Inferiority Complex

The humanities must be studied for their own sake, not as shells of what they once were, nor as stepping-stones to something “actually important.” The humanities cannot beat the sciences at their own game, and they shouldn’t try. Each discipline has fundamentally different goals. In order for the humanities to recapture importance we must relitigate the question of materialism. Studying the Humanities is fruitful apart from anything else.

Editorials

Nobel Peace Prize Rightly Applauds A Threatened Free Press

This Nobel season, Oslo has left us to chew on the importance of a free press, and called attention to the ratcheting threat to democracy and journalists worldwide. Amidst this darkness, Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov shine a light.

Op Eds

Harvard Must Rethink Its Approach to Liberal Arts

While any liberal arts curriculum prides itself on academic flexibility, what Harvard needs, paradoxically, is a more rigid curriculum that is sufficiently rigorous and challenges students to get out of their comfort zones. The purpose of a liberal arts curriculum should be to inspire students to be independent, life-long learners, and fostering independent learning requires guidance.

Opinion's Choice

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  2. The Language of “Merit” Divides Immigrants When We Most Need Solidarity
  3. Dismissals and Disparity: Racial Inequity in Harvard’s Biostatistics Department
  4. 'Just' Visiting?
  5. Harvard Should Tread Cautiously With Kavanaugh

Editorials

By The Crimson Editorial Board

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In Defense of Free Speech

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For the sake of our mission as a university, free speech must be protected here — and really, if anyone bothered to read them, that is what the current guidelines already tell us to do.

Of Rats and Harvard Men

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Against the backdrop of these slow but transformative renovations, Harvard must take swift steps to address the immediate needs of current campus dwellers (the two-legged ones).

Graduate Student Union Strike Authorization is a Warning Alarm

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We must remember that teachers’ working conditions — or in this case, teaching fellows’ working conditions — are students’ learning conditions. How we treat our graduate student workers will be reflected in how they can approach their research and classroom responsibilities: We must be generous.

Op-Eds

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Harvard Amnesia

There is something uniquely Harvard, in fact, about turning the passive into the active. We capitalize on forgetfulness to maximize efficiency. Forgetting becomes a useful tool for neatly discarding whatever we deem unnecessary, especially the things that are hard to remember; not because we can’t recall them but because we don’t want to. We choose to forget to save more time to be busy, and to save ourselves from dealing with whatever lies beyond an introduction.

Generation Z’s Great Awakening

Removing the systems that amplify our society’s injustice is what we need to prioritize, not everyday people who make a few individuals upset on social media.

Drinking Alone Under the Moon with Li Bai

By Ruby Huang
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The sheer number of students at Harvard and the College’s formal emphasis on community on campus constantly remind us that we are never alone. But sometimes, we just are alone — and there’s nothing wrong with being alone. This autumn, while the weather is still nice and the moon is still bright, go be your own best companion.

Columns

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The Humanities Inferiority Complex

The humanities must be studied for their own sake, not as shells of what they once were, nor as stepping-stones to something “actually important.” The humanities cannot beat the sciences at their own game, and they shouldn’t try. Each discipline has fundamentally different goals. In order for the humanities to recapture importance we must relitigate the question of materialism. Studying the Humanities is fruitful apart from anything else.

Unlearning Blame and Reimagining Responsibility

This conception of responsibility also frees perpetrators from the need for self-resentment, which isn’t actually productive or helpful. We can be kind to ourselves and others while still holding each other responsible and not decentering those harmed.

Annenberg Must Cater to All

Connecting with others over meals informs not only much of the Harvard experience, but much of the human experience. Everyone deserves to have nutritious and easily accessible food available to them, enabling them to better integrate into the communities they are a part of.

Current Columns

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