On Monday, April 21st, members of Harvard College and the Harvard Center for Jewish Studies gathered in the historic Plimpton Room of the Barker Center to listen to a special guest lecture by Professor Iris Rachimimov, a specialist in Israeli LGBTQ+ history at Tel Aviv University, about the history of the transgender movement in Israel….
Exactly eleven weeks after the inauguration of President Trump, Intellectual Vitality and the Institute of Politics’ Conservative Coalition partnered to bring Robert Doar – president of famed conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute – to Harvard for a conversation about the state of civil discourse in the country. Doar was joined by the Learned Hand…
“Society has never been more egalitarian—in theory. Prejudice is taboo, and diversity is strongly valued. At the same time, social and economic inequality have exploded.In We Have Never Been Woke, Musa al-Gharbi argues that these trends are closely related, and tied to the rise of a new elite—the symbolic capitalists.” (via Princeton Press) On the…
On February 27th, three dozen students and Harvard affiliates gathered in the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics for a roundtable discussion with Eve Driver ‘20 and Tom Osborn ‘20, authors of What We Can’t Burn: Friendship and Friction in the Fight for Our Energy Future. Having met while attending Harvard College, Eve and…
Citizenship has been a core aspect of the American Dream for centuries, promising anyone who immigrates to the United States – and their posterity – a certain quality of life. In recent times, questions about the meaning of citizenship have become increasingly salient as governmental policies shift. Though this change may seem unprecedented, historical exploration…
Intellectual vitality – a spirit of open and rigorous dialogue and a commitment to curiosity over certainty – can often feel like an abstract ideal that is difficult to put into practice. While the classroom might appear to be the most direct application of these skills, one can also engage in intellectual vitality through light-hearted…
Launching in Spring 2024, “Books Open, Gates Unbarred”, is a dinner and dialogue series so named as an allusion to the poem Seamus Heaney wrote for Harvard’s 350th anniversary. The series will consist of monthly dinners at the Faculty Club, where students will gather to hear two faculty discuss an issue of current concern and…
Harvard has always drawn national interest, but last year presented an especially challenging and emotional time for our students, faculty, and staff. As the community found itself at the forefront of national political conversations, the College’s Intellectual Vitality Initiative sought to create a space for meaningful discussion through the insights of Harvard’s own faculty. As…
Why do people fight along ethnic lines? How do scholars explain and study ethnic conflict? As the world continues to be shaken by ongoing ethnic conflicts, the College’s Intellectual Vitality Initiative brought students together for the fourth Books Open, Gates Unbarred, for an evening of interdisciplinary conversation with Government professor Melani Cammett and Psychology professor…
As we welcome the class of 2028, what do we know about handling difficult conversations and connecting with people with whom we might disagree? The College’s Intellectual Vitality initiatives guide us. Read more on the Harvard College News website….
