# Spring 2026, Volume 40 Number 2 ![Cover of Spring 2026 Centerpiece issue with issue information overlaid on top of a photo of a sphinx in Giza, Egypt on a sunny and cloudy day.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-05/Cover-full-with-text.jpg?itok=SIMWAfLH) **Download**: [Spring 2026, Volume 40 Number 2](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/2026-05/Centerpiece-Spring2026-lores-acc.pdf "Spring 2026 Centerpiece") \[ PDF: 2.21 MB \] or [view online](https://indd.adobe.com/view/ae5b2fc5-87f5-4f27-a01e-25d4551d7b20) The Centerpiece newsletter highlights the various activities throughout the semester at Weatherhead. Read the newest "[Message from the Executive Director](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/executive-director)" column to get an overview of the semester. In our first feature, we publish excerpts of the [Jodidi Lecture with Dr. Atul Gawande](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/feature_jodidi), former USAID administrator, on the fallout from drastic cuts to humanitarian aid. Our second feature article is the [student-professor interview](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/feature_interview) between Center Acting Director Erez Manela and one of his students, Undergraduate Associate Kendall Carll. Both reflect on their mentor-mentee dynamic and shared intellectual interests. As per usual, we provide updates on [student programs](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/prog_student), including both graduate and undergraduate students. We also share updates on the [global history research cluster](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/prog_wigh) regarding Sven Beckert's new book; the [Weatherhead Scholars Program](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/prog_wsp) engagement with students; and the inaugural [Harvard Alumni Summit](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/has-mea-conference) in Cairo. In addition, check out our affiliates' [new books](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/newbooks) and [accolades](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/of_note), along with the [new Faculty Associates](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/new_faculty) who joined Weatherhead this year—and flip through our [photo album](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/photo_gallery) from the spring semester! Finally, we mourn the loss of two longstanding colleagues, [Michael McElroy and Pierre Keller](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/in_memoriam). Letter ### Message from the Executive Director This semester, the Weatherhead Center took the show on the road—literally! In an effort to increase our Center’s visibility beyond the Harvard campus, we participated in the first “Harvard Alumni Summit: Middle East and Africa,” held mid-January in Cairo. The conference was jointly organized by twelve alumni clubs in the region, and attended by over two hundred alums from over thirty countries. We also sponsored two book presentations outside of Cambridge, both featuring Faculty Associate Sven Beckert’s latest publication, *Capitalism: A Global History*. Read more about these spring events in London and New York City. . . . [ Read Letter arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/executive-director) ![Headshot of Erin Goodman next to her name and title against gray background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-05/goodman_erin_square_full_with-title.png?itok=hlYiHj-F) Feature ### The Mechanics of Public Man-Made Death: USAID's Destruction at One Year On Wednesday, February 11, 2026, Dr. Atul Gawande delivered the Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture in Tsai Auditorium in Cambridge. Weatherhead Center Acting Director Erez Manela moderated the conversation. Dr. Gawande was a former leader of global health at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and is a local surgeon and public health researcher. He also writes regularly for *The New Yorker*. Below are selected excerpts of Gawande’s talk, edited for clarity and length. . . . [ Read Feature arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/feature_jodidi) ![Atul Gawande, gesturing with his hands, speaks in conversation with Erez Manela in a wood paneled room.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2026-05/JODIDI%20EXCERPTS.png?h=115c197c&itok=7h2aVZAk) Feature ### In Conversation with Erez Manela and Kendall Carll This academic year, Harvard historian and Weatherhead Faculty Associate Professor Erez Manela has served as acting director for the Center while Director Melani Cammett has been on leave. Manela also oversees the Graduate Student Program at Weatherhead and is highly dedicated to both undergraduate and graduate students at Harvard. In this interview, he is in conversation with Weatherhead Undergraduate Associate Kendall Carll '26. Carll has taken several of Manela’s classes and did an independent reading and research course with him on Sino-American relations. The following conversation, edited for length and clarity, reflects their common research interests and illustrates the unique connection and growth between a professor and student. . . . [ Read Feature arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/feature_interview) ![Two men in professional attire are seated on a green couch and smiling at the camera. ](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2026-05/erez-and-kendall-square.jpg?itok=k_xmaGyC) ## At the Center emoji\_events [### Of Note ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/of_note)Congratulations to our Weatherhead affiliates who have received recent awards and accolades book [### New Books ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/newbooks)Check out the recent books written by Weatherhead affiliates person [### New Faculty Associates ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/new_faculty)Meet the new Faculty Associates who joined the Weatherhead Center this academic year heart\_broken [### In Memoriam ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/in_memoriam)We mourn the loss of our dear friends and colleagues from over the years [### Global History ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/prog_wigh)Research Cluster Update ![Two-image collage of book cover and a photo of a man in a suit signing a book at a table while another man holding a wine glass stands nearby and people converse in the background at an indoor event.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/SVEN%20BOOK%20TALKS.png?itok=6QILdVlJ) [### Weatherhead Scholars Program ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/prog_wsp)Program Update ![Four people stand side by side, smiling, in front of a wall with the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics logo.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/WSP%20AND%20GAP.png?itok=R71eSEiH) [### Students ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/prog_student)Program Update ![A group of 19 people pose and smile for a photo in an office setting, standing in front of sofas and framed artwork on the wall.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/AtTheCenter-Students-GSA%20Group.jpg?itok=gU3G9jzC) [### Harvard Alumni Summit ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/has-mea-conference)Beyond Cambridge ![A woman holding a microphone speaks on stage at the Harvard Alumni Summit Middle East & Africa, with the event logo in the background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/HARV%20ALUMNI%20SUMMIT.png?itok=W13J1oLe) [### Spring 2026 Event Photos ](/publications/centerpiece/spring2026/photo_gallery)Gallery ![Five people standing indoors, each holding a book, with a black curtain and tables in the background. ](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/Events-BookBlitz-Speakers.jpg?itok=J899iP5u) ## Recently on Epicenter ![Collage of the various Epicenter header images from the spring semester, underneath some 'about' text for Epicenter.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2026-05/Screenshot%202026-05-13%20at%202.11.21%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=PmclqSpW) [Why Venezuela?](https://epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/articles/why-venezuela) // [How Societies Heal After Conflict](https://epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/multimedia/how-societies-heal-after-conflict) // [War, Work, and the Fragile Ladder of Dignity](https://epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/articles/war-work-and-fragile-ladder-dignity) // [The Power of Sports to Unite and Divide](https://epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/articles/power-sports-unite-and-divide) // [One Thousand Years of Capitalism](https://epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/podcast/ep19-one-thousand-years-of-capitalism) --- Attachments- [ picture\_as\_pdf Centerpiece-Spring2026-lores-acc.pdf ](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/2026-05/Centerpiece-Spring2026-lores-acc.pdf) --- See also:- [ Centerpiece ](/content-types/centerpiece) - [ Centerpiece: Spring 2026 ](/newsletter-issues/centerpiece-spring-2026)