Centerpiece: Spring 2020

The following Harvard faculty accepted invitations to be WCFIA Faculty Associates during the 2019–2020 academic year: Eram Alam, Assistant Professor, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University. The history of science and medicine in the...

The Weatherhead Initiative on Afro-Latin American Studies was launched in 2016 to support research in the new academic field of Afro-Latin American studies. This field centers on the study of people of African ancestry in Latin America and on the larger...

The Program on U.S.-Japan Relations opened its fortieth anniversary celebration this year with a reception in Tokyo held on January 17, 2020. Over 100 alumni and distinguished guests attended the event, including program founder and former President of...

2019–2020 Graduate Student Associates The Graduate Student Associates (GSA) program is one of the Center's oldest and most valued programs. Directed by Erez Manela, professor of history and Weatherhead Center Faculty Associate, the program welcomes...

Several WCFIA graduate students, along with GSA Program Director Erez Manela, reflect on some of the long-term repercussions for China—and the rest of the world—in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. For decades, the Graduate Student Associate (GSA)...

Interview by Michelle Nicholasen From civil strife in Syria to the war in Yemen to US-Iran tensions, Shi'a groups are emerging as major players on the geopolitical landscape. The 200 million Shi'as around the world comprise 15–20 percent of all Muslims...

The Hidden Face of Rights: Toward a Politics of Responsibilities By Kathryn Sikkink When we debate questions in international law, politics, and justice, we often use the language of rights—and far less often the language of responsibilities. Human rights...

Alberto Alesina Wins Hayek Book Prize Faculty Associate Alberto Alesina, Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University, is the corecipient of the Hayek Book Prize for his book, Austerity: When It Works and When It Doesn't (Princeton...

When the semester launched in January, none of us at the Weatherhead Center imagined the harrowing ride we would take, together and in isolation. Those who study global pandemics—in real time and in the past—have been busier than they could have imagined...

Life at the Weatherhead Center—like the rest of the world—changed drastically over the past few months. In our Message from the Director column, Interim Director Melani Cammett shares the struggles and resilience of Center affiliates during the COVID-19...