Despite receiving a warm welcome last week in Tehran, the announced framework for a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran has an uncertain fate. Although mainstream media coverage has extensively analyzed the implications for Middle Eastern security, less discussed is the pivotal role of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, described as the “single most powerful institution in Iran,” in the deal’s … Read more
Will Iran’s ambitions to develop nuclear weapons persist in the next 10 to 15 years, or will they diminish into an afterthought due to regime change or Iranian moderation? The Obama administration, in its announcement of the framework agreement produced by the P5+1 and Iran on April 2, has based its policy on a belief in the … Read more
On March 21, Judith Shulevitz published an op-ed in the New York Times criticizing the rise of “safe spaces” on college campuses across the United States. Shulevitz writes that the rise of safe spaces and other institutionalized support systems “may be exacerbating students’ ‘self-infantilization,’” causing students to become insular beings too fragile to handle the reality … Read more
Since “safe spaces” became the buzzword for criticism of today’s “infantilised” college students, a discomfiting number of stories has emerged. They range from the troubling—a white afrobeat band removed from a concert line-up and race-segregated screenings of Dear White People in a UK university—to the humorous NY Times description of a Brown University area “equipped … Read more
A few nights into Opening Days, freshmen filled a Science Center lecture hall to watch a teaching troupe spark the conversation on sexual assault. An announcement prefaced the show: should the performance’s prickly topics prove at any point too difficult to handle, we were free to seek out one of the peer counselors in the … Read more
In a recent New York Times op-ed about the rise of safe spaces on college campuses, Judy Shulevitz writes, “[O]nce you designate some spaces as safe, you imply that the rest are unsafe. It follows that the rest should be made safer.” This then leads to the trend that “students’ needs are anticipated by a … Read more
Anyone who’s taken an introductory psychology class knows about confirmation bias—the tendency that humans have to focus on evidence that confirms their existing views instead of evidence that disproves them. In her recent article, New York Times columnist Judith Shulevitz argues that college students fall into this trap and try to block out ideas that … Read more
Kay Hagan served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina between 2009 and 2015. She is currently a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Harvard Political Review: Why you decide to come to the Institute of Politics? What draws you to this particular fellowship? Kay Hagan: It’s interesting. I have three adult children. I always … Read more
Kay Hagan served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina between 2009 and 2015. She is currently a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Harvard Political Review: Why you decide to come to the Institute of Politics? What draws you to this particular fellowship? Kay Hagan: It’s interesting. I have three adult children. I always … Read more
Suppose you want to do a little good in your local community, so you pay a few hundred dollars to order sharp new uniforms for the local Little League team. New uniforms, you figure, will boost their self-esteem and lead others to think better of them, too! A week later, you get a call from … Read more