Though it’s first and foremost thought of in economic and political terms, globalization is having profound cultural effects as well – effects Harvard scholars and their peers around the globe are working to understand. To explore the impact of globalization on literature, Harvard’s Institute for World Literature (IWL) earlier this year invited 140 participants from…

Materials design expert to spend fall semester at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences A leader in computational materials design will bring an industry perspective to the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) this year. Sadasivan Shankar will be the first Distinguished Scientist in Residence at the Institute for Applied Computational Science…

The Boston Globe Magazine profiled Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) nutrition expert Walter Willett in the cover story of its July 28 issue. Willett, Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of the Nutrition Department at HSPH, is the single-most-cited nutritionist in the world. He oversees two long-term studies that have gathered data on…

With just months remaining before the Jan. 1 rollout of changes to the  Medicaid program that will expand health care coverage to as many as 10-20 million Americans, substantial implementation challenges remain — namely, uncertainty regarding costs and the number of states willing to accept the federal subsidy to expand Medicaid coverage to their citizens.…

Robert A. Lue, Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, faculty director of HarvardX, and professor in the department of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, writes about how online learning has the potential to improve the campus experience. The piece, appearing in Scientific American, emphasized the importance…

A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) adds to evidence that eating breakfast is important for good health. HSPH researchers found that men who regularly skipped breakfast had a 27% higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than those who did eat a morning meal. Non-breakfast-eaters were generally…

Federal dietary guidelines recommending that Americans of all ages consume three cups per day of reduced fat milk or other dairy products may be influenced more by lobbying from the dairy industry than by scientific evidence, according to a new commentary co-authored by Walter Willett, Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard School…

Three Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) postdoctoral researchers spent a week at Kocaeli University in Turkey in May 2013 under a fellowship program offering them opportunities to lecture, learn, and establish collaborations with fellow academics. The Kocaeli University School of Medicine International Travel Award, now in its second year, provides postdocs with professional opportunities at…

Leading lawmakers, police officials, and social activists met July 12-13 in New Delhi, India, for a conference titled “Gender Justice and Criminal Law Reform,” which was organized by the Harvard Gender Violence Project (HGVP), a collaboration between Harvard School of Public Health’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard Law School, the Harvard South…

Make a difference as an Arnold Arboretum School Program Guide! Training for the fall season of school programs at the Arboretum begins on Aug. 29. The Arboretum is looking for outgoing and mature adults who can commit to one year of volunteering. Volunteers do not need to know about plants, but experience working with children…

Among developed countries, rates of violence are roughly similar. But in the United States, the chance of dying from a violent act exceeds that of other countries by a wide margin. It’s because of guns, says David Hemenway. The U.S. suffers higher rates of gun-related homicides, gun-related suicides, and unintentional gun deaths simply because so many…

A new initiative at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) aims to formalize and build on longstanding ties between the School and India. The new effort — the HSPH-India Health Partnership (HSPH-IHP) — will support and help coordinate the School’s wide range of existing research and educational activities in India, as well as encourage new…

The 22-year career of multi-platinum Def Jam Recordings artist Nas is at the heart of a joint announcement by the Hiphop Archive and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University, to establish the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship. The fellowship will provide selected scholars and artists with an opportunity to show that “education is real…

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770, both at Harvard University, jointly announced today the establishment of the Hasty Pudding Fellowship at the A.R.T. The recipient of the first Hasty Pudding Fellowship is Harvard alum Ben Nelson. Nelson recently did work for Des McAnuff at LaJolla Playhouse and Stratford Festival…

In the 1960s, the late epidemiologist Ralph Paffenbarger, Jr. launched a study of men matriculating as undergraduates at Harvard University that would be among the first to link physical activity to a longer, healthier life. While teaching at Stanford in the 1980s, Paffenbarger’s enthusiasm for the work rubbed off on graduate student I-Min Lee, now professor…

Hospitals nearly tripled their use of electronic health records (EHR) systems between 2010 and 2012, according to a new study co-authored by Ashish Jha of Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The authors found that 44% of hospitals report having at least a basic EHR system. “Given the size of our country, that’s amazing progress in a…

Robert Blendon, senior associate dean for policy translation and leadership development and Richard L. Menschel Professor of Public Health at Harvard School of Public Health, recently spoke with the website Medpage Today for its “Conversations with …” video interview series. Blendon discussed still-unresolved questions around the Affordable Care Act, such as where payment will come from for…

HarvardX, the campuswide endeavor to support faculty innovation in the use of technology in teaching & research, has announced its course and module proposal cycles. Harvard faculty interested in developing HX courses or modules should begin by completing the brief proposal form. Composed of guiding questions, the exercise is designed to help refine a chosen topic, define…

Half a billion people in northern China will likely live an average of 5.5 years less than their southern counterparts because of heavy air pollution caused by coal burning, according to a new study. Researchers from China, Israel and the United States were able to compare health effects between people in the north and south…

The Summer Sustainability Program at Harvard is in full swing after getting off to a great start last month. Summer Schoolers showed an impressive eagerness to get up close and personal with Harvard sustainability on move-in weekend when nearly 50 people attended the Green Tour of Harvard Yard (see photo). Since the tour, Summer School…

Walter Willett, Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, recently spoke with the website Medpage Today for its “Conversations with …” video interview series. In an interview posted July 5, 2013, Willett discussed conflicting recommendations on calcium supplements for people over 50. Watch video…

Nancy-Ann DeParle ’83, whose nearly four years in the Obama White House included serving as deputy chief of staff for policy until this past January, is best known for her role in the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. As director of the White House Office of Health…

On June 24, 2013, family members of those killed in government-planned massacres in Bolivia in 2003 filed an amended complaint, with extensive new allegations that the defendants, former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and former Defense Minister Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, had devised a plan to kill thousands of civilians months in advance of the violence. The…

The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University will host Professor Doris Sommer of Harvard’s Cultural Agents Initiative and artist Pedro Reyes this Friday for a ceremonial tree planting, an event which calls attention to the capacity of art to promote social change. Cultural Agents Initiative (CAI) at Harvard University, an interface between academic learning and civic…

Although a groundbreaking 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report suggested that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors, recent studies suggest that the real number is likely much higher, according to patient safety expert Lucian Leape, adjunct professor of health policy at Harvard School of Public Health and a…

The Cambridge Archives Project hosted its “Fifth Annual Archives Crawl” June 17 through 21, which included the Harvard University Archives, the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), the Cambridge Public Works Department, the Cambridge Freemasons Lodge and Christ Church. This year’s theme was “Spaces: Sacred & Profane.” The Harvard University Archives has been a stop…

Every week, Marilyn Morgan, manuscript cataloger at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library, leads chair yoga for librarians. “I find that librarians especially tend to be very service-oriented and put themselves last,” Morgan said. “We often feel guilty about taking time for ourselves. This class is great because anyone can carve out 30 minutes once a week.” The…

Nigeria’s Tope Folarin has won the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as Africa’s leading literary award, for his short story entitled ‘Miracle’ from Transition, Issue 109 (Bloomington, 2012). Transition is a publication of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University. The chair of judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, announced Folarin as the winner of the…

Parents and adults working with vulnerable young children and babies must be better equipped to shield the youngsters from “toxic stress” and other adversities that can contribute to the development of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases later in life, Jack P. Shonkoff, Julius B. Richmond FAMRI professor of child health and development and director,…

The Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) has issued a call for Spark Grant applications. Roughly five awards ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 will be given to ideas that “spark” promising teaching and learning projects from idea to reality, and positions innovations for future success. Harvard faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to apply. Although HILT welcomes any proposals…