Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Sarah Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, is well-known in the academy and the design professions. This lecture will introduce her in a more informal and personal way, inviting the GSD community to sit in on a conversation with her long-time friend and colleague, Michael Hays. They will cover topics ranging from her own history to a broader discussion about contemporary design and design education.
Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments for a free lecture and book signing by Lukas Rieppell, David and Michelle Ebersman Assistant Professor of History at Brown University.
Dinosaur fossils were first found in England, but a series of late-nineteenth-century discoveries in the American West turned the United States into a world center for vertebrate paleontology. Around the same time, the United States also emerged as an economic powerhouse of global proportions, and large, fierce, and spectacular creatures...
The year 2019 has not turned out as expected for the political elite in Russia and Ukraine. Local elections in Russia have triggered stubborn street protests set amidst falling living standards. In Ukraine, political neophyte and comedian Zelensky has been rapidly consolidating power—though whether he can resolve Ukraine’s numerous political, economic, and geopolitical problems remains to be seen.
Join the Davis Center as Harvard’s top specialists on Russia and Ukraine discuss contemporary developments in Eurasia and their import for the rest of the world.
Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Stubbins Room 112, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Join the Harvard Graduate School of Design for a lecture delivered by Philip Ursprung, Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
For the 100th birthday of Bauhaus, the German State supports two new museums, several exhibitions, and many celebrations. However, the current celebrations repress the fact that the Bauhaus in the late 20th century was criticized for its formalism and dogmatic design education. And while a...
Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Join the Harvard Graduate School of Design for a Wheelwright Prize Lecture presented by Samuel Bravo.
In this lecture, Bravo will propose an interpretation on how the emergence of a dwell comes to life out of nature and in front of us. Through different cases we will observe the persistence of this primeval emanation of the human environment as a contemporary everyday experience.
Writer and sociologist Eve L. Ewing creates work in multiple genres and forms: academic writing and scholarship, teaching, cultural organizing, poetry, comic books, and fiction. But one thing that unites all of her works is the underlying thread of black feminism.
In this Askwith Forum, Ewing and her former doctoral advisor, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, discuss the influence of black feminist ideas on Ewing’s work in multiple arenas and consider the ways all of us might learn, grow, care for ourselves and each other, and challenge systems of power through the radical potential of...
Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard, 224 Western Ave., Allston
Join Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard for a lecture with Colby Charpentier, 2018–19 Artist In Residence, as he discusses the work he developed during his residency. Charpentier has created work that explores the question “What if we took clay out of the vessel and glaze was all that remained? And what does it mean to replicate a 3-D printing process by hand? The result is ceramic: glass, devitrified.”
Immediately following the lecture will be the opening reception of Devitrified, Charpentier's solo exhibition.
Ceramics Program—Office for the Arts at Harvard, 224 Western Ave., Allston
The Marks Project is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit creating the first online research hub for American studio ceramics. This is a searchable, online database of American studio ceramic makers working from 1945 onward and their marks, signatures, back stamps, and more.
Learn about how you can contribute content to The Marks Project database or use it as a research tool. On September 6, join the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard for a presentation with Martha Vida, Executive Director of The Marks Project.
Weld Hill Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Join the Arnold Arboretum for a lecture by science journalist Kelly Beatty. Light pollution, simply put, is any unnecessary or excessive outdoor illumination. Sadly, it’s become a pervasive and ugly consequence of modern 24/7 society. Light pollution robs us of the night sky’s beauty, negatively affects the ecosystem, and creates an in-your-face waste of energy. But a new mindset and new technology are poised to slow—and perhaps reverse—this bane of modern life.
In this lecture, Tony Lewis, a Chicago-based artist, and Matt Saunders, an artist and the Harris K. Weston Associate Professor of the Humanities at Harvard, will discuss various practices and techniques of drawing. Considering their own work, Lewis and Saunders will explore some of the unique questions that the fugitive medium of drawing poses to contemporary audiences.
This event is free, but seating is limited. Tickets will be distributed beginning at 5:30pm at the Broadway entrance. One ticket per person.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Soil is the basis of survival. Without soil, humans and most other living beings could not exist. Conor Guidarelli, who has dug deep into the soils of the Arnold Arboretum will present an overview of soil, from its formation and components to its properties. He will discuss ways to analyze soil quality and health to determine whether or not amendments are needed based on the soil outcome or use desired.
Participants are encouraged to bring a pint glass jar with about a cup of soil in it to class.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Once, farmers knew how to prune trees in a way that, instead of destroying them, led to robust and sustained growth – of the trees and of the communities that utilized them.
Rediscover this lost art that sustained human life and culture for ten millennia in this talk with arborist William Bryant Logan. William offers us both practical knowledge about how to live with trees to mutual benefit and hope that humans may again learn what the persistence and generosity of trees can teach.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
All writers must contend with translation. A poet translates the movement of a dancing figure into a brief couplet, and an essayist translates the noise and commotion of the city where she lives into a single paragraph. The three-dimensional world filters into text, and when done especially well—the realm of literature and art—readers often forget that translation has even occurred.
In this talk, Jonathan Damery, the associate editor for Arnoldia, will provide a readerly tour through horticultural and botanical reference books, encouraging readers to see the artistic endeavor...
Jen Thum, the Inga Maren Otto Curatorial Fellow in the Division of Academic and Public Programs, will give this gallery talk.
The Harvard Arts Museums galleries are full of stories—this series of drop-in talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.
Free with museums admission. Gallery talks are limited to 15...
In The Universe Speaks in Numbers, Graham Farmelo, the award-winning author of The Strangest Man and Churchill's Bomb, takes his readers on a journey from the Scientific Revolution to string theory, highlighting the role of mathematics in guiding the search for the most fundamental laws of nature.
In this talk, he will be joined by Harvard's own Jacob Barandes in conversation about this new book which explores how the harmonies between physics and mathematics enrich and deepen our understanding of the universe.
Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge
Historically, plants have provided humans with most of our drugs, fibers, food, dyes, perfumes, building materials, and even musical instruments. But how has this diverse and fascinating field been studied and what has been learned? In fact, for over 100 years, Harvard has played a pivotal role in the study of human-plant interactions, leading to the creation of the field of ethnobotany.
In this interactive lecture we will explore the science and history of some of the most important Harvard botanists and explorers through their unique specimens—now housed in the Harvard...
The town of Teotitlán Del Valle in the Mexican state of Oaxaca is renowned for its weaving traditions and its importance as a Zapotec cultural center. Porfirio Gutiérrez will examine the rich history of Zapotec weaving from the perspective of its practitioners. He will also discuss his studio’s role in preserving and promoting the use of natural dyes in his community, and abroad, using pigments derived from plants and insects.
Half a century later, Dr. Jonathan McDowell will look back at humanity's first voyages to another world. In December 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 became the first people to enter the gravitational sphere of the Moon, and seven months later, Armstrong and Aldrin headed for the surface in Apollo 11. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union's moon rocket exploded disastrously as its robot probes competed with NASA astronauts in the race to bring home the first moon rocks. Dr. McDowell will explain how the first landing stood at the tip of an immense effort as engineers from California to Cambridge, MA...
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
How does an egg become an egg? Why do chickens continue to lay eggs day after day? What controls the shape of eggs? Why do eggs of different species of birds have different colors? And how strong are eggshells?
In this talk which follows previous talks about bird flight, migration, and feathers, Lorna Gibson answers common questions about bird eggs.