Crimson staff writer
Sophie Gao
Latest Content
Undergraduates Begin Tenth Harvard Yard Excavation
Undergraduates in a Harvard anthropology course have begun excavating Harvard Yard, the area between Harvard Hall and Holden Chapel, for the twentieth year of the Harvard Yard Archaeology Project.
Academic Publishing Keeps Getting More Expensive. Some Harvard Scholars Want to Make It Free.
The high cost of publishing open access has plagued researchers for years, but a dedicated group of Harvard scientists and librarians are fighting to alleviate the costs of publishing.
Harvard’s Taylor Swift Scholar on “The Life of a Showgirl”
For Harvard English professor Stephanie Burt, “The Life of a Showgirl” is not, as it was for me, a confusing, Travis Kelce-themed departure from the artist I’d known and loved most of my life. Rather, Burt says, it’s a retrospective.
Fifteen Questions: Benjamin L. de Bivort on Individuality, Forecasting, and the Politics of Science
The Organismic and Evolutionary Biology professor sat down with Fifteen Minutes to discuss fruit flies, puzzles, and LS50.
Descendant of Darby Vassall Leads Tour To Recognize Vassall’s Life, Cambridge’s History of Slavery
Denise Washington, a fourth-generation descendant of a man who was enslaved by the Harvard-affiliated Vassall family in the 19th century, launched a historical tour of Cambridge on Sunday visit sites that were significant to his life.
Harvard Film Archive Temporarily Closed After Burst Pipe Flooding in Carpenter Center
The Harvard Film Archive will be closed indefinitely after a burst pipe flooded the archive’s collection, theater, and offices on Saturday, according to a Monday email sent to HFA affiliates.
The Theory, Born at Harvard, That Could Remake Right-Wing Jurisprudence
Over the past five years, common good constitutionalism has taken tenuous root in elite legal academia. It’s now beginning to find its way into courtrooms. But scholars remain divided on its potential to reshape the legal landscape — and whose “common good” it seeks to advance.
Researchers Release Report on People Enslaved by Harvard-Affiliated Vassall Family
A group of Harvard-affiliated researchers presented an extensive report Thursday on the people enslaved by the Vassall family, whose members were affiliated with the University and lived at the Longfellow House in Cambridge.
E-Book Contracts Are a Big Cost for Public Libraries. One Harvard Librarian Is Fighting to Change That.
For the past five years, Kyle K. Courtney, who directs copyright and information policy for Harvard’s libraries, has fought to make e-books more accessible to public libraries across the United States.
Harvard’s Austerity Measures Put Library Renovations on Hold
Harvard has paused plans to renovate four University libraries ahead of its 400th anniversary in 2036 as part of a temporary halt to capital projects amid an ongoing fight with the White House over federal funding.
Tom Lehrer ’47, Mathematician and Musician Who Set Wicked Satire to Cheery Tunes, Dies at 97
Thomas A. Lehrer ’47 — a beloved musician and mathematics instructor who set sardonic commentary to upbeat piano melodies — died on July 26. He was 97.
The Class That Went Online: Harvard’s Class of 2000 Plugs In
In 1995, a faculty committee called for every staff and faculty member to have access to a computer and the internet, just in time for the arrival of the Class of 2000 on campus.
Harvard Relinquishes Photographs of Enslaved Individuals, Ending 6-Year Legal Battle
Harvard will give up a pair of photographs of an enslaved man and his daughter after agreeing to settle a lawsuit over ownership of the images with Tamara K. Lanier — a woman who claims she is descended from the individuals depicted.
Initiative to Digitize Records of Slave Trade Will Move to Harvard
A nearly six-decades old initiative to digitize records of the trans-Atlantic and intra-American slave trades is moving to Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, the University announced earlier this month.
Harvard Outsourced Its Slavery Research. Then a Former Employee Began Notifying Descendants — Without Its Knowledge.
After Harvard outsourced efforts to identify the people enslaved by University affiliates and their descendants, the work has continued elsewhere, led by nonprofits, universities — and a rogue researcher.
