What makes a good life? Who gets to decide what constitutes wellbeing? The evening of November 12th, Professor Jeff Miron and Associate Professor Adaner Usmani shared their thoughts on preference satisfaction and welfare economics before a riveted audience of students and faculty. Miron, who has advocated for libertarian policies such as legalizing all drugs, and…
A Panel Moderated by Professor Ned Hall with Guests Professors Rakesh Khurana and Julie Reuben On the evening of Thursday October 23, students, faculty, and community members gathered in the Leverett Library Theater for a reprised discussion on Harvard’s response to the Trump administration. This time, attendees heard from former Dean Khurana and Professor Julie…
A Panel with Professors Dean Amanda Claybough, Dean David Deming, Professor Marc Aidinoff, Professor Moira Weigel, and Professor Elena Glassman On Saturday October 25th, as a part of Family Weekend, students and their families gathered in Sanders Theatre for a moderated panel conversation on how Harvard should understand and adapt to the increasing usage of…
In April of 2025, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard’s administration making a series of demands, including that they cancel diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and hire an auditor to evaluate ideological diversity among faculty. After Harvard publicly refused to comply, the Trump administration froze over $2.2 billion in grants and $60…
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…
