Arts & Culture
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American Dream turned deadly
He just needs to pass the bar now. But blue-collar Conor’s life spirals after a tangled affair at old-money seaside enclave in Teddy Wayne’s literary thriller
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Just one family’s history – and the world’s
Claire Messud’s autobiographically inspired new novel traces ordinary lives through WWII, new world orders, Big Oil, and rise and fall of ideals
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Digging into the Philippines Collections at the Peabody Museum
Filipino American archivist offers personal perspective to exhibit
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Better to be talented or lucky?
If you want fame, Cass Sunstein says, it typically requires some of both — and is no pure meritocracy
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‘Tell the cities about us … and tell our neighbors about what we do’
‘HUM SAB EK’ harvests stories of self-employed Indian women’s hardships — and victories
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A Chekhov play relatable to Americans today
At first, Heidi Schreck wasn’t sure the world needed another take on ‘Uncle Vanya’
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Israel’s Grossman reflects
The celebrated Israeli novelist David Grossman reflects on writing and warfare. The right has won the debate in his country, he says, but hope for peace remains.
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Radcliffe Fellow sheds light on the science of poetry
Inspired by her love of science and her exploration of the universe’s mysteries, Sarah Howe wrote a poem dedicated to Stephen Hawking. A video has Hawking reading Howe’s poem, marking National Poetry Day, Oct. 8.
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Chasing wonder to the finest detail
“Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” author Rebecca Skloot, at Radcliffe as a visiting scholar, talks about her new book project, on the bond between humans and animals.
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Barbara Klemm comes to Harvard
The distinguished German photojournalist Barbara Klemm will show her works this month in the Center for European Studies (CES) exhibit titled “West Meets East,” which commemorates the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Germany.
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A cultural institution
While volumes of poetry, sadly, may not sell the way, say, a Stephen King novel does, Ifeanyi Menkiti knows firsthand that poetry’s gifts are priceless. That’s why, in 2006, he purchased the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, a historic literary enclave down an unassuming Harvard Square side street.
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A miracle of preservation
HarvardX’s MOOC “The Book” uses technology to mine ancient texts and bridge the modern and the medieval.
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New arts concentration gets warm welcome
New concentration brings excitement by merging three disciplines and capitalizing on Harvard’s vast creative resources.
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A childlike vision artfully refined
A new exhibit at Houghton Library spans the many pursuits of the British artist Walter Crane.
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Testament to Manchukuo
A growing Harvard collection documents life and propaganda in the controversial, short-lived Asian state of Manchukuo.
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History in the making
A new collection of materials donated to Harvard Library from the José María Castañé Foundation is keenly focused on major conflicts and transformative events of the 20th century, including the Russian Revolution, the two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War, and the Cold War.
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Images to act on
Kellie Jones, an associate professor in art history and archaeology at the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University, discussed “Civil/Rights/Act: Art and Activism in the 1960s” as part of the W.E.B. Du Bois colloquia this fall.
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A wall of color, a window to the past
Curious visitors who turn left off the Harvard Art Museums’ elevators on the building’s fourth floor are greeted by the Forbes Pigment Collection, a floor-to-ceiling wall of color compiled from about 1910 to 1944 by the former director of the Fogg Museum.
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Out of the blue, strokes of brilliance
A phone call last month led to the acquisition of Corita Kent prints at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library.
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Weighed down
Harvard anthropologist Susan Greenhalgh’s new book, “Fat-Talk Nation: The Human Costs of America’s War on Fat,” delves deep into the national obsession with thinness.
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Roman history, trowel by trowel
A Harvard undergrad learns by doing, digging through a Roman historical site during a summer excavation program.
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Haunted vision
Dave Malloy traces the inspiration for “Ghost Quartet,” set to run at Oberon Sept. 9-12, to the scary stories of his youth.
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Housing that reflects the world
An exhibit at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design showcases, explains half a century of lessons in living around the globe.
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Life behind the pose
“Black Chronicles II,” at the Cooper Gallery, explores issues of race and identity through archival photographs from Victorian England.
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Putting an artist in her place
A new exhibit at the Harvard Art Museums reviews the work of pop artist and activist Corita Kent.
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Who needs answers?
The 2015 Arts and Passion-Driven Learning Institute traced connections among inspiration, imagination, and creative work.
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Uncovering what Thoreau uncovered
Harvard’s Houghton Library has acquired Henry David Thoreau’s notes from the scene of the shipwreck that killed social reformer and writer Margaret Fuller.
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Writing her way back
Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles is returning to her musical-theater roots as the composer of “Waitress,” which opens at the American Repertory Theater this weekend.
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A Harvard homecoming for this artist
Jesse Aron Green ’02 is the first Harvard alumnus to have an exhibition at the new Harvard Art Museums. A former Quincy House resident and a Needham native, Green spoke with the Art Museums about his Harvard education and the inspiration for his work.
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Bringing far nearer
Summer Summits: Notes from further afield, a new initiative at the Carpenter Center, is bringing voices in contemporary art to Harvard for a live travelogue of stories, relics, musings, and photographs from escapades near and far.
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Sensitive art
Christina Leigh Geros’ creation for Radcliffe’s Wallach Garden is brilliantly responsive to its surroundings.
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More than help for their hair
Schlesinger Library receives letters from African-American servicewomen grateful for hair products that eased their lives while on assignment.
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Vivid reminders of war
An exhibition by an Iranian artist recalls the heavy human cost of the long and brutal Iran-Iraq War.
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Complicated legacy
A Harvard Law School scholar reflects on the legacy of the 800-year-old Magna Carta.
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Compelled to create art
Unfulfilled as a lawyer, Robin Kelsey took a leap and began a career in photography and teaching. Today he leads Harvard’s Department of History of Art and Architecture.
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Seeding journalism’s future
Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson on coaching the next generation of journalism leaders.