The humbling and cheerful former Indian president, Abdul Kalam, inspired a crowd at the South Asia Initiative’s Harish C. Mahindra lecture, held on September 27th. His talk centered on steps to develop the rural expanse of the world’s largest democracy. Once his talk ended and questions began, it became clear that Indians in the audience … Read more
6:00: Meghan O’Sullivan, tonight’s moderator, introduces Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations. 6:07: “He has been, to me, and possibly to others, a mentor. You’ve been a source of inspiration, of learning, and of fun.” 6:13: Haass makes the point that we need to integrate the world in order to make real … Read more
The flotilla incident of last year may have been buried in the depths of the Arab Spring, but for Turkey and Israel, the event is still very much pertinent. Israel has stubbornly refused to apologize for the attack on the grounds that its soldiers were acting out of self-defense. Turkey, in retaliation, downgraded diplomatic relations … Read more
On 17th December 2010, Tunisian police seized Muhammad Buazizi’s vegetable cart. The jobless graduate set himself on fire, dying from wounds and sparking protests around Tunisia. Less than a month later, a man sets fire to himself in Egypt. The Arab Awakening also called the ‘Arab Spring’ was the turning point for governance and policy … Read more
Last week, Wyatt Troia wrote a well-read piece in the Crimson entitled “Exploding the H-Bomb.” Since this may be one of the only times I truly agree with Wyatt, I figured I should take the opportunity to post about it. Wyatt argues that Harvard students, when asked by non-Harvard-affiliates where they go to school, should … Read more
Ben Yu was a freshman at Harvard last fall until he took a semester off. He is now one of twenty-four recipients of the Thiel Fellowship, a $100,000 grant that encourages people under 20 to drop out of school and pursue start-up companies. This summer, he will be moving to San Francisco work full-time on … Read more
As part of the 2011 Science & Democracy Lecture Series, NY Times columnist David Brooks delivered a lecture titled “Politics, the Brain, and Human Nature” at the Graduate School of Design on April 12, 2011. Panelists included HBS Professor Max H. Bazerman, HLS Professor David Kennedy, and Psychology Professor Steven Pinker. Brooks argues, as in … Read more
In yesterday’s Crimson, it was reported that changes could be in store for the Optional Winter Activities Week (OWAW), following a presentation by Dean of the College Evelynn Hammonds in a recent faculty meeting. These potential reforms have been proposed in light of the mixed results of the College’s winter vacation survey. Of the 924 … Read more
7:20: People begin to trickle out and the forum empties as Summers is welcomed back to Harvard. Although he has been tied distinctly to Wall Street in the past, Larry Summers genuinely seems to care for the country as a whole. He is concerned about the growing inequality within the nation, the looming wave of … Read more
7:25 pm: He outlines a handful of improvements that could be made in state politics, energy, and a host of other issues, and concludes the event with the words, “but I’m just an unemployed former governor”—much to the amusement of the crowd. -Andrew Seo 7:23 pm: Richardson states how more female candidates are needed in … Read more