The lectures pair Harvard professors with celebrated food experts and renowned chefs to showcase the science behind different culinary techniques. The series is based on the Harvard course “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter,” but public lectures do not replicate course content.
Each presentation will begin with a 15-minute lecture about the scientific topics from that week’s class by a faculty member from the Harvard course. This week's topic is "Honorary Book Celebration Lecture."
Celebrate the glamour, labor, humor, and discoveries of archaeology at Harvard. Join student archaeologists as they share their experience with an Irish castle, a shaft tomb in western Mexico, monuments on the Giza plateau in Egypt and drones used to study El-Kurru in ancient Nubia, among other locations. Place a friendly wager on an atlatl (spear throwing) demonstration, observe chew marks on bones from the Zooarchaeology Lab and experience a virtual-reality view of the Great Sphinx.
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian—Online
Join the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian for a virtual Public Observatory Night with guest lecturer Donavan Moore, author of "What Stars Are Made Of: The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin."
It was not easy being a woman of ambition in early twentieth-century England, much less one who wished to be a scientist. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin overcame prodigious obstacles to become a woman of many firsts: the first to receive a PhD in astronomy from Radcliffe College, the first promoted to full professor at Harvard, the first to head a department there. And, in what...
Presenter: Willeke Wendrich, Joan Silsbee Chair of African Cultural Archaeology; Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Digital Humanities, University of California, Los Angeles
Archaeologists study stylistic and technological changes in excavated materials—especially pottery—to better understand developments in ancient Egyptian society. However, little attention has focused on using the archaeological record to understand the transfer of cultural knowledge. How did people learn the arts and crafts of potters, basket makers, metalworkers, and scribes?...
Celebrate the longest day of the year and mark the beginning of the summer with the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. While we can’t welcome you to our museums in person just yet, we invite you to join us online on June 20 starting at 10:00 am to learn about the scientific and cultural significance of the summer solstice, participate in virtual field trips to the Stonehenge World Heritage site in England and a Massachusetts oyster farm, enjoy musical performances, and explore activities to do at home.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge
Explore the new Resetting the Table exhibition, starting at the dinner table set for a party. Family-friendly activities about what we eat will be set up throughout the gallery: drop in for smell stations, Play-Doh® desserts, games with prizes, and a raffle of dinner for two at a Harvard Square restaurant.
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge
Scavenger Hunt Dates: December 21–December 23 December 26–December 31 January 2–January 31
Have you ever wished that you could talk with other animals? Doctor Dolittle, the imaginary character in the Hugh Lofting book The Story of Doctor Dolittle, could do just that! Doctor Dolittle learned animal languages and made animal friends all over the world. Use the clues to find six of his animal friends in the museum and learn how that animal really communicates. Then, like Doctor Dolittle, tell us what you think that animal is saying by drawing or writing...
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge
Scavenger Hunt Dates: December 21–December 23 December 26–December 31 January 2–January 31
Have you ever wished that you could talk with other animals? Doctor Dolittle, the imaginary character in the Hugh Lofting book The Story of Doctor Dolittle, could do just that! Doctor Dolittle learned animal languages and made animal friends all over the world. Use the clues to find six of his animal friends in the museum and learn how that animal really communicates. Then, like Doctor Dolittle, tell us what you think that animal is saying by drawing or writing...
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge
Scavenger Hunt Dates: December 21–December 23 December 26–December 31 January 2–January 31
Have you ever wished that you could talk with other animals? Doctor Dolittle, the imaginary character in the Hugh Lofting book The Story of Doctor Dolittle, could do just that! Doctor Dolittle learned animal languages and made animal friends all over the world. Use the clues to find six of his animal friends in the museum and learn how that animal really communicates. Then, like Doctor Dolittle, tell us what you think that animal is saying by drawing or writing...
Between the paws of the great Sphinx is the Dream Stela, a monument which describes how a young prince fell asleep in the shadow of the Sphinx by the Giza Pyramids. Visitors to the Harvard Semitic Museum galleries will be able to experience the iconic Sphinx and its Dream Stela in 3D augmented reality.
A gallery facilitator will use a tablet to allow the Sphinx to loom above and around a real life-size cast of the monumental stela. With a tap, the ancient hieroglyphs will be highlighted and translated into English. Another tap to adjust the timeline later, and a pyramid will...
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge
Remember and celebrate your departed loved ones at this year’s Día de los Muertos altar, savor traditional Mexican hot chocolate and pan de muerto, and enjoy live music.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge
Learn to paint Zapotec design motifs with visiting artists from Oaxaca, Mexico. The father-son team of Ventura and Norberto Fabian continues the tradition of creating hand-carved and painted wooden figures known as alebrijes. This folk art is rooted in traditional aspects of rural village daily life and is now one of Mexico’s largest-selling craft industries. After learning about techniques and styles, participants will select an original, small figure to paint and take home. Workshops will be taught in Spanish with translation to English.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge
"Shrink" yourself down to "walk" into an ancient Maya vessel using augmented reality! Maya women were often essential for uniting kingdoms. When a marriage was arranged between Maya royal families, kings would exchange gifts like this ceramic three-legged plate for serving chocolate. Use the museum’s iPad as a "magic window" to discover fine details on one such plate that cannot be seen on the actual artifact. A gallery facilitator will guide you through the experience and will share more about the Maya.
"Travel" in fifteen minutes to an archaeological site in Ashkelon, Israel to explore the first-ever excavation of a Philistine burial ground. For years archaeologists have searched for evidence of these Biblical people. Transport yourself to the center of 360° scenes of an archaeological expedition while your gallery facilitator explains what you are seeing. Borrow a device from the museum or download the virtual reality app on your smart phone and bring it to place in a 3D viewer at the museum for an immersive experience.
Repeats every week every Wednesday until Wed Nov 20 2019 .
12:00pm to 1:00pm
12:00pm to 1:00pm
12:00pm to 1:00pm
12:00pm to 1:00pm
12:00pm to 1:00pm
12:00pm to 1:00pm
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location:
Harvard Commons, Smith Campus Center, 1350 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
Enjoy lunch or a study break in the Smith Campus Center! Stop by Harvard Commons every Wednesday to hear live music from Club Passim, a local folk music organization based in Harvard Square.
Watch a vibrant collection of animated shorts narrated in some of the 68 Indigenous languages of Mexico. Created by visiting Mexican designer Gabriela Badillo and selected from her project 68 Voices, 68 Hearts, these films foster pride, respect, and the use of Indigenous Mexican languages among speakers and non-speakers.
The family-friendly stories are subtitled in English and are based on legends and poems from native communities. The event includes a lively Q&A with Badillo in English and Spanish, an authentic Mexican snack, and a chance to learn phrases in one of Mexico...
Repeats every week every Thursday until Thu Aug 08 2019 .
5:00pm to 7:00pm
5:00pm to 7:00pm
5:00pm to 7:00pm
5:00pm to 7:00pm
5:00pm to 7:00pm
Location:
Science Center Plaza, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge
Enjoy summer evenings with live music and fun for all ages at Summer Thursdays on the Plaza!
Play on the lush green lawn beneath the shade structure, dance through bubbles, get creative with chalk drawings, and play a wide assortment of lawn games. Plus, enjoy live music from the community from 5:30pm–6:30pm.
Free, fun, family activities allow visitors to explore arts from the ancient Near East! Activities change daily: construct models of an Egyptian pyramid, inscribe clay tablets, or decode hieroglyphics.
Activities take place on the first floor of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This HMSC museum explores the rich history of cultures connected by the family of Semitic languages. Exhibitions include a full-scale replica of an ancient Israelite home, life-sized casts of famous Mesopotamian monuments, authentic mummy coffins, and tablets containing the earliest forms of writing.