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    When “Stay at Home” Isn’t Safe: Domestic Violence During COVID-19

    Location: 

    Online Event

    Although communities have been asked to stay home to stay safe, for many domestic violence victims, home can be a dangerous place. Spikes in intimate partner violence (IPV) and child abuse have been noted across the country and around the world since the onset of the COVID-19 stay-at-home directives as victims and witnesses of IPV and child abuse find themselves isolated within their homes and confronted with difficult decisions about when and how to seek care or shelter. In this Radcliffe webinar, scholars, public officials, community activists, and...

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    The Khufu Boat

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    In 1954, Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el-Mallakh discovered a 144-foot ship buried next to the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Khufu boat—one of the oldest-known planked vessels from antiquity—was interred in honor of Khufu, the pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid. Bob Brier will discuss what is known about the design, propulsion, and function of this 4,600-year- old ship, based on recent tank tests conducted on a model. He will also highlight plans to build a full-scale replica of the vessel and to place it on the Nile.

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    International Womxn’s Day Lecture: Dr. Vandana Shiva

    Location: 

    Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge

    Dr. Vandana Shiva is trained as a Physicist and did her Ph.D. on the subject “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory” from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She later shifted to inter-disciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. In 1982, she founded an independent institute, the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in Dehra Dun dedicated to high quality and independent research to address the most...

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    Who Discovered Evolution?

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Charles Darwin is commonly cited as the person who “discovered” evolution. But, the historical record shows that roughly seventy different individuals published work on the topic of evolution between 1748 and 1859, the year that Darwin published On the Origin of Species. These early thinkers, now almost entirely forgotten, included biologists, geologists, horticulturists, physicians, clergymen, atheists, philosophers, teachers, and poets.

    William Friedman will discuss the ideas of these pre-Darwinian evolutionists, place Darwin in a broader historical context, and...

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    The Pursuit of Happiness

    Location: 

    Harvard Business School, Klarman Hall, Batten Way, Boston

    Join this thought-provoking talk by Arthur Brooks who distills 40 years and hundreds of social science research studies on happiness, into a surprising set of answers to questions like: What percentage of the population is happy? What brings us happiness? Who is happier, men or women? How much of happiness is genetically determine?

    How can we pursue the surest path to happiness? Arthur has the answers.

    The event will have a show opener featuring a performance by the Faculty band: Indie Folk rock, including:
    Mike Norton: vocals, guitar, bass
    ...

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    Lecture: Seed Sovereignty and ‘Our Living Relatives’ in Native American Community Farming and Gardening

    Location: 

    Gund Hall, Stubbins Room 112, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge

    Native heirloom seed varieties, many of which have been passed down through generations of Indigenous gardeners or re-acquired from seed banks or ally seed savers, are often discussed by Indigenous farmers as the foundation of the food sovereignty movement, and as helpful tools for education and reclaiming health. This presentation explores how Native American community-based farming and gardening projects are defining heirloom or heritage seeds; why maintaining and growing out these seeds is seen as so important, and how terms like seed sovereignty should be defined and enacted. Many of...

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    Saving America’s Cities: The Past, Present, and Future of Urban Revitalization

    Location: 

    Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium, 48 Quincy St., Cambridge

    Can past efforts to revitalize America’s cities inform contemporary strategies to address the problems of economic inequality, unaffordable housing, segregated neighborhoods, and deteriorating infrastructure?

    That question, in part, informs Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age, a new book by Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies at Harvard University and former Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

    Cohen will discuss this history and will be joined in...

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    The Ancient Maya Response to Climate Change: A Cautionary Tale

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Ancient Maya civilization suffered a major demise between the tenth and eleventh centuries. The causes continue to be investigated and debated. Paleoenvironmental research over the past twenty years has revealed that the demise coincided with a prolonged, intensive drought that extended across the region, providing compelling evidence that climate change played a key role in the collapse of the Maya. Billie Turner will examine this evidence and the complex social and environmental conditions that affected Maya societies.

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    The New Geopolitical Order

    Location: 

    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden St., Cambridge

    The new geopolitical environment taking shape in many parts of the world tends toward increasing authoritarianism and nationalistic competition. In this lecture, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, an international human rights advocate and the former United Nations high commissioner for human rights, will argue that the world’s people deserve better. Despite the demagoguery and isolationism that some leaders are pursuing, he believes it is possible to pursue thoughtful diplomacy and a system of connectivity, coalitions, and partnerships to reform institutions and change polices.

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    Olfaction in Science and Society

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge

    The sense of smell plays a critical role in human behavior, from warning us of potential dangers to attracting us to certain foods, places, and people. Harvard scientists Catherine Dulac and Venkatesh Murthy study the molecules, cells, and brain circuits that underlie olfaction and the social behaviors that aromas can elicit. In this program, they will engage in a conversation with internationally recognized olfactive expert Dawn Goldworm to discuss how neurobiological research on olfaction relates to our everyday experiences.

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    Conducting Oneself: Choreographing Bodies and Identities On and Off the Podium

    Location: 

    Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Knafel Center, 10 Garden St., Cambridge

    At Radcliffe, Daniel M. Callahan is beginning his second book, “Conducting Oneself,” which examines how the bodies, identities, and repertoire of orchestra conductors produce, legitimate, and limit their movements on the podium and off, from conservatories to coveted positions. Drawing on movement analysis, oral history, and affect theory, the project explores how conductors visibly embody their empathy with scores while simultaneously projecting expertise and power.

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    Film: Destruction Babies with Director in Person

    Location: 

    Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge

    Wildly popular in Japan, Tetsuya Mariko’s breakthrough feature tells the story of a young man drawn mysteriously into a spiral of unrelenting violence. A purposefully problematic film, Destruction Babies seems at one level to embrace the unreal ultra-violence of manga, video games and commercial cinema while also bending it into a kind of parodic self-criticism.

    Cost: $12 special event tickets.

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    Infectious Cancers in Tasmanian Devils

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

    The Tasmanian devil is the world’s largest living carnivorous marsupial. This species was once abundant in Australia, but today is only found on the island of Tasmania, where it is at risk of extinction due to two rare, contagious cancers. Mark Margres will discuss how this species is adapting in response to these diseases, whether there is any hope for the Tasmanian devil to avoid extinction, and what can be learned about human cancers from studying the disease in other animal species.

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    History Reconsidered: Poetry Reading and Discussion

    Location: 

    Knafel Center, 10 Garden St., Cambridge

    Join the Radcliffe Institute for a poetry reading and discussion with Clint Smith.

    Clint Smith is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University and an Emerson Fellow at New America. He has received fellowships from the Art For Justice Fund, Cave Canem, and the National Science Foundation, while his writing has been published in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, Poetry Magazine, the Paris Review, and elsewhere. His first full-length collection of poetry, Counting Descent, was published in 2016. It won the 2017...

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    Film: Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project with Director in Person

    Location: 

    Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge

    Matt Wolf’s engaging documentary tells two stories: one, the life story of a remarkably prescient and stubbornly individualistic radical librarian who refused to fit neatly into the role of wife or mother, and a second that traces the emergence and arguably disastrous effects of the twenty-four-hour American news cycle that she secretly recorded in her Philadelphia home from 1979-2012.

    Cost: $12 special event tickets.

    ...

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    Opening Lecture: Painting Edo

    Location: 

    Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

    As part of the Harvard Art Museums' opening celebration for Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection, SOAS University of London art history professor Timon Screech will present "Into the Kaleidoscope: Painting in Edo Japan."

    Tickets are required for the lecture and may be acquired in person, by phone, or online for a small fee through the Harvard Box Office. Limit of two tickets per person.

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    Ancient Egyptian Culture and Its Continuity in Modern Egypt

    Location: 

    Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge

    Egypt’s recorded history spans six thousand years and is therefore one of the longest and best known in the world. Today, Egyptians practice several religious, artistic, and social traditions that can be traced to ancient Egypt, demonstrating the power and longevity of cultural memory. Drawing on research in archaeology, Egyptian art, writing, and culture, Fayza Haikal will examine Egyptian society’s cultural expressions from antiquity to the present, focusing on language, spirituality, superstitions, funerary traditions, and folklore.

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    Opening Celebration: Painting Edo

    Location: 

    Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

    Join the Harvard Art Museums to celebrate the opening of Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection, on view from February 14–July 26, 2020.

    Be among the first to see over 120 works included in the Harvard Art Museums' latest show, which celebrates the rich visual culture of Japan's early modern era. The galleries are open late, and admission is free for...

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