English
Soman Chainani
Soman S. Chainani ’01, author of the children’s fantasy trilogy “The School for Good and Evil,” spoke during Folklore and Mythology 128: “Fairy Tale, Myth, and Fantasy Literature” on Tuesday afternoon. He discussed his inspiration, which stems from using Disney conventions as a backdrop against which to build a new set of sensibilities in his fairytale-inspired novels.
The Humanities at Work
The universe of higher education often bemoans a "crisis" in the humanities, with supposedly dwindling numbers and few job prospects. At Harvard, humanities concentrators face a crisis of choice, attempting to balance their passions with factors like stability and employment. For Harvard graduates, the question is not so much whether you’ll get a job with a humanities degree—it’s where.
English Dept. Looks To Limit Writing Course Section Sizes
Sections for writing intensive courses in the English department now look to include 12 to 15 students—smaller than the 18 or so students targeted in most lecture courses.
Markey and Harvard’s Engell Headline Climate Change Concert
The event’s headliners included U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey and Harvard English professor James T. Engell ’73.
HarvardX 'Poetry in America' Course Moves to TV
The digital humanities initiative will expand to local television and will feature influential figures discussing poetry.
Academic Advisers Adjust to New Electronic Study Cards
Prior to this summer's redesign of my.harvard, students had to solicit signatures for all from their academic advisers in person.
Collaborative Poetry
Matthew Battles talks about similarities in poetic style between works of different epochs as part of "re-verse: A Participatory Evening of Poetry." The event engaged with the metaLAB @ Harvard, an interdisciplinary teaching unit, and was part of the week-long Harvard LITFest.
Poetry Reading
Mary Dalton, a Canadian poet, reads various poetry selections from her body of work in front of an audience at Fong Auditorium in Boylston Hall on Tuesday evening.
Teaching Campaign Prepares To Deliver Petition
With 1,827 signatures as of Wednesday, the Harvard Teaching Campaign is making a final push for signatures on a petition that calls for a 12-student cap on section sizes before delivering it to administrators.
Burt on Wikipedia
English professor Stephen L. Burt '93 shares his thoughts on the use of Wikipedia in the classroom. Burt said that Wikipedia might be a good starting point for background research.
Spring Morris Gray Reading
American poet and International Griffin Poetry Prize recipient Brenda Hillman dedicates the reading of selections of her work to aspiring student writers and poets in Sever Hall Monday evening.
Scene and Heard: Kazuo Ishiguro
Kazuo Ishiguro is a Big Deal, both capitals intended. Following his breakthrough 1989 novel “The Remains of the Day,” he’s kept it up over a career of over two decades with a string of bestsellers. You might remember his last, the heartwrenching “Never Let Me Go,” from its movie adaptation starring the equally heartwrenching Andrew Garfield. His new novel, “The Buried Giant,” is big even by Ishiguro’s standards: It’s his first in 10 years, and expectations are higher than Memorial Church’s steeple.
Readings in the Parlor
Professor Derek Miller plays a selection from “The Sound of Music” from his laptop and speaks about the relationship between lyrics and melody on Monday afternoon as part of the “Readings in the Parlor” series presented by the Department of English in the Barker Center.
Readings in the Parlor
Professor Derek Miller speaks about the semiotics of the song, "Do-Re-Mi" from the musical "The Sound of Music" on Monday afternoon as part of the “Readings in the Parlor” series presented by the Department of English in the Barker Center.
Snow Days by Concentration
Now that everyone has frolicked sufficiently, snow days have become a time for learned contemplation. FM considers how students of various concentrations can best use their time off.
SEAS Refines Plans for Move to Allston
Administrators and planning committees at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are continuing to outline broad goals for the eventual relocation of their school to Allston.
Abramson To Extend Time at Harvard by One Year
Former executive editor of the New York Times Jill Abramson came to Harvard last fall as a visiting lecturer and was originally slated to teach for one year.
Sacvan Bercovitch, Courageous Literary Scholar, Dies at 81
Bercovitch, a leader in the field of American studies, died of cancer on Dec. 9. He was 81.
Albright Remembered as Whimsical English and Music Teacher
Daniel Albright, a professor of Literature, author of 16 books, and a former Guggenheim Fellow, died unexpectedly on Jan. 3. He was 69.
Four Dollar Wine Critic: Yes, I Said Yes, I Will, Yes
It’s Halloweekend, folks, and fuck if I’m paying for my own alcohol. Also, I spent my work-study money on lingerie, because this Halloween, I’m going as Molly Bloom. Molly Bloom, a character in James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” is a fierce bitch, and the novel ends on her “yes” of orgasmic affirmation. She is an artist and a badass motherfucker who eats sausages for breakfast.
New Concentration Was Years in the Making
Although implementation is just a series of approvals away, much has yet to be determined for Harvard’s first-ever dramatic arts concentration.