‘This is really not a time to find your chatbot BFFs’
The advance of artificial intelligence, we are told, is inevitable. Nothing can stop AI chatbots from entering classrooms, nursing homes, workplaces, even bedrooms.
Campus & Community
Where people, places, and experiences come together to shape life at the FAS
Rediscovering Thoreau the scientist
Henry David Thoreau famously went to Walden Pond to live deliberately. But for far longer, he pursued a lesser-known obsession: observing scientifically.
How Paul Giamatti becomes a rhinoceros
When Paul Giamatti was 7 years old, his mother told him the story of the Eugène Ionesco play “Rhinoceros.” Giamatti was a monster enthusiast at the time, and something about the idea of a man turning into a rhinoceros lodged in his brain.
If AI is allowed to drive discourse, can democracy survive?
Say political engagement could be increased in a certain society by the introduction of effective artificial intelligence tools — but those living there would have fewer in-person interactions. Should such tools be adopted?
New piano, a ‘unicorn that can do everything,’ arrives at Sanders Theatre
Piano Technical Services and the Office for the Arts worked with Vijay Iyer, Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts and Professor of African and African American Studies, to select the “unusually strong” instrument.
Will AI ever outsmart humans? Philosophers weigh in
A September 14 talk, co-hosted by the Division of Arts & Humanities’ Public Culture Project and Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society, explored the distinctions between human and artificial intelligence.
New economics building reaches its peak
The topping-off ceremony, a construction rite rooted in ancient Scandinavian rituals, took place August 27 at the site of the future Pritzker Hall, which will house the Department of Economics. The building project was set in motion five years ago.
New faces step to the front of the class
Amid the rhythms of the back-to-campus bustle, new faculty find themselves experiencing the same first-day excitement — and jitters. We dropped in on three, on the first day of their first classes.
Donors meet fundraising goal for Ph.D. fellowships — and raise their hands to do it again
Through the Research Accelerator Challenge, donors raised $100 million for new endowed doctoral fellowships.
Angela Bassett, Mavis Staples, Didier Drogba among 2026 W.E.B. Du Bois Medalists
The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research has named its 2026 cohort of W.E.B. Du Bois Medalists, including actress Angela Bassett, humanitarian and soccer legend Didier Drogba, and five-time Grammy-winning singer Mavis Staples.
Convocation formally welcomes Class of 2030
“If you get a sense that someone sees something in you — talent, capacity, or passion — that you haven’t recognized, listen to them carefully and take their suggestions seriously,” President Alan Garber advised the Class of 2030.
Before the syllabus, the studio
For more than three decades, the Harvard College First-Year Arts Program has served as incoming students’ first encounter with the breadth of artistic people, places, and pursuits awaiting them on campus.
How to get to orientation? Follow the roars
Crimson Kickoff, launched in 2024, is a newer tradition that heralds the start of orientation week. The pep-rally-style event peaked — at least decibel-wise — with a yard-by-yard screaming contest.
Scholars and strategists sound alarm on voting rights
Hutchins Forum convened on “Balance of Power: Redistricting, Courts, and the Right to Vote”