The Scoop
Right to Read Exhibit
At the Harvard Law School library’s latest exhibit, “Challenging Our Right to Read,” controversial books, formerly resigned to the shadows, are once again on display — right beside the objections raised against them.
Blue Lights Photo
Students expressed mixed feelings about the blue light phone system, with some saying they view them as deterrents to crime and others saying they likely would not use them in a real emergency.
The ‘Necessary Evil’ of Computer Science 124
Most students aren’t taking Computer Science 124: Data Structures and Algorithms for pride. They’re taking it to fulfill the computer science concentration’s Algorithms requirement. Hence the course’s description as “a necessary evil” in the Q Guide.
Do We Have the Right To Read?
“Do we, as a society, have an ethical obligation to create safe spaces and boundaries for particular groups of people?” asks Jocelyn Kennedy, one of the curators of the Harvard Law School library exhibit, “Challenging Our Right to Read.”
Should Harvard Red Light or Green Light the Blue Lights?
For how important they are to Harvard's discussion of safety, and despite their prevalence and accessibility, Harvard's emergency phone system is not something most Harvard students think about day to day. Dotting the grounds like glittering blue breadcrumbs, Harvard’s 530 blue light phones blend in with streetlights and gates and other doodads, becoming just another thing on campus.
my.harvard's Makeover
Nearly one decade after the last update, Harvard University Information Technology is now planning to launch a new update for my.harvard, with the help of some student recruits.
Armaan Tipirneni and Pranav Ramesh
In the span of three or four days, Ramesh and Tipirneni created Classiq.red, choosing to collaborate on the project because they had known each other for a while and trusted the other to be up for the challenge.
Through Oral History, Students Listen to the Silences
“Memory changes because life experience has changed, but so does the language and ideas available for someone through which to understand that experience,” says Professor Katie Holmes. “Meaning is always individual and cultural, therefore, it is historically located.”
Pia M. Sörenson Photo
Pia M. Sörenson, Senior Preceptor in Chemical Engineering and Applied Materials, teaches Eng Sci 24, a class exploring the science behind fermentation.
The Magic of Food Fermentation in Eng-Sci 24
Eng-Sci 24 is a lab course focused on innovation. Despite its culinary application, the course draws students with career interests varying from food writing to sustainable food production.
‘I Want People to Know It’: Ava E. Silva ’27 Works to Preserve the Alabama Language
Within the Working of Language in the Field (WOLF) lab, Ava E. Silva '27 and a team of Harvard researchers are currently developing the Alabama language project, a five-year initiative that aims to document the language, study its grammar and lexicon, and produce educational resources for the Alabama-Coushatta community.
At the Abigail Adams Institute, the Resurrection of the English Major
Over the cacophony of criticism, one thing rings clear: whether they’re teaching Taylor Swift or Tocqueville, Harvard’s humanities are leaving many unsatisfied.
The Matchmakers of Harvard Magazine
“I like the idea of personal ads, because that is exactly what they are — they’re personal,” says celebrity matchmaker Bonnie Winston, who has placed ads in Harvard Magazine since the late 2000s. “It’s a very good way for me to find quality bachelors and bachelorettes to match my clients up with."
Widener Library
The Harvard-NEC program is a five-year dual degree program that allows a student to earn a bachelor’s degree at Harvard and a master’s of music at the New England Conservatory.
Balancing Acts: Coordination Difficulties in Harvard's Music Dual Degree Programs
Though dual enrollment students value the opportunity to combine studying music with their other academic interests, they also cite issues with the structures of their programs. Students say that there are difficulties with coordinating schedules between the two schools, transportation costs and financial aid, and feeling socially disconnected.
Chronicling ‘The Good Life’
Despite the way it is often discussed, the study hasn’t always been so focused on happiness. In fact, the goals, methods, and analysis of the research that form the history of the study have varied dramatically, from defining the “normal” man and justifying certain “breeding” practices to understanding the causes of delinquency.
International Student Visas Graphic
In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security implemented the STEM Optional Practical Training extension program, a policy that allows international students who graduate from U.S. universities with degrees in an approved science, technology, engineering, or math field to remain in America for three years instead of one after graduation.
Optional Practical Training, But A Compelled Concentration Choice
“If it wasn’t for the STEM OPT and I didn’t have to worry about work visas or anything at all, I would have done Hist and Lit or History and done a secondary in something else,” Sunshine Chen ’27 says. Instead, she is considering adding Economics as a double concentration.