Welcome Message from Center Director Melani Cammett
Our mission is to support pathbreaking research across the social sciences on the most important questions facing societies around the world. We leverage our deep pool of experts to bring their research to bear on complex global issues, and to translate that research into accessible and actionable knowledge.
Weatherhead is a large Center, with more than 200 faculty spanning twelve of Harvard’s fourteen schools. Our affiliates also include over 150 graduate and undergraduate students, visiting scholars, fellows, and postdoctoral researchers. We aspire to expand our existing opportunities for scholars from around the world, and from diverse backgrounds, to benefit from and contribute to our research communities. We offer our affiliates numerous opportunities to exchange ideas about their research as we maintain our tradition of theoretical and methodological pluralism.
Our research clusters bring together numerous scholars around broad areas of shared study. Current clusters focus on business and government relations; social science research on climate change; comparative inequality and inclusion; global history; identity politics; and migration. We are excited to support data collection, sharing, and publication in these areas, and in the diverse areas of inquiry of our affiliates.
Numerous programs and projects illustrate the range of research activities underway at the Weatherhead Center. For example, the Weatherhead Scholars Program invites more than two dozen visiting faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and experienced practitioners to spend up to one academic year at Harvard. Participants across all our programs and projects have the opportunity to get involved in the research clusters and engage with the community at Harvard and beyond.
We encourage our affiliates to attend the numerous special events we are hosting this upcoming year. One of our signature events, the online Weatherhead Forum, is open to the public and hosts special sessions that tackle big issues and current events. Our first Forum of the year will be held on October 9, where we will host a discussion on the geopolitical stakes of the upcoming US presidential election. Our follow-up Forum is slated for November 6, where our panelists will unpack the election results. Other special events this fall semester include:
- October 8 (new date!): International Comedy Night with Katie Boyle and Harvard College Stand-Up Comic Society returns during Harvard Worldwide Week.
- October 23: Weatherhead Advisory Committee member Richard English discusses his new book, Does Counter-Terrorism Work?
- October 24: Weatherhead Advisory Committee member Tjada D'Oyen McKenna delivers the Jodidi Lecture.
In addition, we host several academic conferences over each academic year, some of which are open to the public. Our regular seminars, organized by many intellectual partners on a wide range of topics, will continue. Be sure to keep an eye on our Weatherhead events calendar (emailed weekly) for details on these and other events.
I hope you enjoy and benefit from your association with the Weatherhead Center this academic year. I warmly invite you to get involved in our events and activities and to explore our publications, including our online magazine Centerpiece and our research hub Epicenter, where you will find original blog posts, podcast episodes, and multimedia projects featuring the work of Weatherhead affiliates. Stay connected to Center events and news by following us on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
For sixty-six years the Weatherhead Center has helped shape the agenda of international research in the social sciences, and we are thrilled to have you here to continue that legacy.
Sincerely,
Melani Cammett
Director, Weatherhead Center
Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs