Governance

66 Items

People take photographs near a John Harvard statue, left, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass.

(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Analysis & Opinions - Wall Street Journal

Students Aren’t the Obstacle to Open Debate at Harvard

| Feb. 22, 2024

Professors hear a great deal these days about how hard it is to get our students to listen to, much less to engage with, opinions they dislike. The problem, we are told, is that students are either “snowflakes” with fragile psyches or “authoritarians” who care more about their pet causes than about democratic values such as tolerance, compromise and respect for opposing points of view. Students at Harvard, where I teach, returned from winter break in January to an institution that appeared determined to tackle this problem head-on. An email from the undergraduate dean reminded them that “The purpose of a Harvard education is not to shield you from ideas you dislike or to silence people you disagree with; it is to enable you to confront challenging ideas, interrogate your own beliefs, make up your mind and learn to think for yourself."

Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland

Wikimedia Commons/Algkalv

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Decolonizing the Education System in Greenland

    Author:
  • Linda Lyberth Kristiansen
| Dec. 20, 2023

Most post-primary education in Greenland is conducted in Danish. Offering more instruction in Greenlandic would not only improve educational outcomes for Greenlanders, but would further Greenland's capacity to self-govern, says Linda Lyberth Kristiansen.

Technicians in clean room learn to make semiconductors

Photo from ATE Impacts 2022-2023

Report - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Community Colleges and the Semiconductor Workforce

| June 2023

Over the last several decades, the U.S.’s domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity has declined. The CHIPS Act aims to reverse this trend by investing over $50 billion in direct funding and loan subsidies to expand semiconductor research and development and manufacturing in the U.S. This primer focuses on the workforce challenges that will be spurred by this microelectronics industry expansion and proposes how community colleges can play a critical role in addressing these challenges. 

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News - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Shirley Jackson Joins Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center as Senior Fellow

Dec. 01, 2021

Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named the Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson a non-resident Senior Fellow. Dr. Jackson, a theoretical physicist and President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has held senior leadership positions in academia, government, industry, and research. At the Belfer Center, Jackson will engage with students, faculty, and fellows at the nexus of science, public policy, and leadership.

“Shirley exemplifies the ideal of advancing science and technology for the public good,” said Belfer Center Director Ash Carter. “All of us at the Center are honored to welcome such a distinguished leader and scientist. The National Science Board was right to call her a ‘national treasure’ and we look forward to her engagement with our community.”

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Questions from Quarantine: Schools Reopening with Dr. Bourdeaux and Security Mom

The Security and Global Health Project is proud to present a weekly web series with Security Mom Juliette Kayyem and Medicine Mom Dr. Margaret Bourdeaux. Each week, our experts will answer your questions from quarantine and give you advice on staying sane and sanitary in a global crisis. We hope you'll join our Moms every Tuesday, and if you have a question that you want answered, tweet with #QuestionsFromQuarantine.

U.S. Attorney for District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling

AP Photo/Steven Senne

Analysis & Opinions - The Boston Globe

Americans Don’t Believe in Meritocracy — They Believe in Fake-it-ocracy

| Mar. 18, 2019

Americans believe in meritocracy in principle. Polls show that significant majorities — between 67 percent and 70 percent since Gallup began asking the question in 2003 — believe that, when it comes to university admissions, “applicants should be admitted solely on the basis of merit.” Yet in practice Americans don’t believe in meritocracy at all. A significant number of wealthy Americans have no problem at all with the idea of hereditary privilege, so long as they are spared the social obligations of traditional aristocracy.

Hanan Al Hroub (second from right) speaks with students from the Harvard Kennedy School and Graduate School of Education during her visit to Harvard, September 22, 2016.

Bennett Craig, Belfer Center

News

Askwith Forum: Education as a Human Right with Hanan Al Hroub

September 22, 2016

A video recording from the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Askwith Forum on September 22, 2016, featuring Hanan Al Hroub, recipient of the 2016 Global Teacher Prize from the Varkey Foundation and a teacher at Samiha Khalil Secondary School in Palestine. Ms. Al Hroub delivered a public address on the topic of "Education as a Human Right" and discussed her experiences as a Palestinian educator and her unique approach to instruction.

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Analysis & Opinions - Quartz Africa

Let's Reinvent and Diversify Africa's Universities to Make Them Centers of Innovation

| August 25, 2016

"Creating innovation universities can be pursued through three practical stages. The first is to formulate a policy framework under which such universities operate. The second state is to translate the policy into specific legislative reforms to support the new university species. The third stage is to experiment by upgrading a few research institutes that have strong foundations and potential to commercialize products and services."