Centerpiece

The Center's newsletter about life at Weatherhead, Centerpiece, is produced twice a year and regularly features information on current and future Center events, scholarly developments of special note, and a column by the Center's director. The newsletter also includes updates on the Center's programmatic initiatives, articles by Faculty Associates, and profiles of Center affiliates and their research. Centerpiece aims to maintain an enduring network of both current members and Center alumni.

Issues

Fall 2023, Volume 38 Number 1

Centerpiece Fall 2023 cover.The fall 2023 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including program updates, feature articles, new books, and more. Weatherhead's new executive director, Erin Goodman, shares Center updates in the Message from the Executive Director column. Our regular Dispatches column features four of our Undergraduate Associates sharing their travel experiences abroad, in Bolivia, Syria, Rwanda, and England. For our second feature, we excerpted a portion of our recent Jodidi Lecture delivered by Dame Louise Richardson, who shares the ways universities can work to mitigate the decline of democracies worldwide. Antonia Maioni, William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies, describes the timely seminar series the Canada Program launched this semester. Our newest research cluster on identity politics had a busy semester, and we share details from their many events. We announce the newly awarded Kenneth I. Juster Fellows in our student programs update. Finally, we reflect on the role Henry Kissinger played as a founding member of our Center.... Read more about Fall 2023, Volume 38 Number 1

Spring 2023, Volume 37 Number 2

Spring 2023 Centerpiece cover with image of people praying below a bunch of white umbrellasThe spring 2023 issue of Centerpiece highlights recent activities at the Weatherhead Center. Acting Center Director Erez Manela shares important Center updates in the Message from the Director column. This spring semester crackled with energy, and we at the Center were thrilled to host two of our major lectureships in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Epidemiologist, author, and philanthropist Dr. Larry Brilliant joined us to deliver the Jodidi Lecture in conversation with Acting Director Erez Manela, and we have included snippets of his talk in our feature, "Insight from Larry Brilliant." Just a few weeks later, former White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy delivered the Manshel Lecture in conversation with Jim Stock, vice provost of climate and sustainability at Harvard. Our second feature includes McCarthy's opening remarks, where she highlights much of the progress made on climate during the Biden Administration. In our third feature we discussed with two chairs of the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Business and Government their new research cluster—how it started, their goals, and more. And of course we provide updates on several other programs and clusters, such as student programs, a Q&A with the director of our undergraduate program, and the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Comparative Inequality and Inclusion.... Read more about Spring 2023, Volume 37 Number 2

Fall 2022, Volume 37 Number 1

Image of the front cover of the CenterpieceThe fall 2022 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including program updates, feature articles, new books, and more. The Center's acting director, Erez Manela, shares updates for the WCFIA in the Message from the Director column. Four of our Undergraduate Associates detail their summer travel experiences abroad doing thesis research in our annual Dispatches feature. Graduate Student Associate Gbemisola Abiola writes our second feature article on internally displaced people in Borno, Nigeria, who have fled their homes in the wake of violence from Boko Haram. The Weatherhead Scholars Program update shares details on the plethora of fall activities cluster affiliates have enjoyed. We announce the newly awarded Kenneth I. Juster Fellows in our Student Programs update. Finally, we mourn the loss of Henry Rosovsky, a beloved and longtime Harvard professor, former dean, former president, and founder of The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.... Read more about Fall 2022, Volume 37 Number 1

Spring 2022, Volume 36 Number 2

The spring 2022 issue of Centerpiece highlights recent activities at the Weatherhead Center. Director Melani Cammett shares important Center news, along with personal news, in the Message from the Director. Graduate Student Associate (GSA) Andi Zhou writes about the connections between maps, homelands, and sacrifice in our first feature, "Who Fights for the Homeland?" We sat down with recent GSA alum Angie Bautista-Chavez for an interview on "The Journey to Professorship," which details her experiences as a first-generation college student at Harvard to assistant professor at Arizona State University. We pay tribute to Herbert C. Kelman, a longtime Center affiliate who leaves behind a legacy of peace and kindess to everyone who worked with him. Finally, we invite you to meet our new executive officer for The Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies, Kaori Urayama, and our new Undergraduate Associates for 2022–2023.... Read more about Spring 2022, Volume 36 Number 2

Fall 2021, Volume 36 Number 1

Thumbnail of Centerpiece Fall 2021 cover with image of field researcher walking among banana treesThe fall 2021 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including program updates, feature articles, new books, and more. The Center's new director, Melani Cammett, shares her vision for the WCFIA in the coming months in the Message from the Director column. Four of our Undergraduate Associates detail their experiences doing thesis research over the summer—either locally or abroad—in our annual Dispatches feature. Our second feature article, written by Graduate Student Affiliate Harry Oppenheimer, delves into the world of cybersecurity and international relations in "Managing Digital Interdependence." The Canada Program update provides details on its current group of affiliates; the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Global Transformations shares news about how the cluster has managed community during the pandemic; and we announce the newly awarded Kenneth I. Juster Fellows in our Student Programs update. Finally, we mourn the loss of four Center affiliates who passed away recently in our In Memoriam column.... Read more about Fall 2021, Volume 36 Number 1

Spring 2021, Volume 35 Number 2

Cover of the Spring 2021 Centerpiece with photo of Kabul citylifeCenter life soldiers on during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we remained busy as ever—just from afar. In her last Message from the Director column, Michèle Lamont writes about the changes that have taken place over the past six years. Over this summer, she will pass the baton to new Center Director Melani Cammett, Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University and professor of global health and population at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Learn more about Melani Cammett in our first feature, "In Conversation with New WCFIA Director Melani Cammett." In our second feature, "Community-Based Education: Relationships between the Local and ‘Beyond the Local’," recent Graduate Student Associate Bibi-Zuhra Faizi (EdD '21) explores community-based schools in Kabul, Afghanistan—including the relationships between the schools and the community, the state, and NGOs. In our program update for The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, we say goodbye to several key members of the program leadership team. Meet the new director of the Weatherhead Scholars Program, Erin Goodman, in our Q&A that dives into her new role as well as what brought her to the Weatherhead Center. Finally, we pay tribute to two friends and colleagues who recently passed away, Ezra Vogel and Richard C. Cooper, in our In Memoriam column.... Read more about Spring 2021, Volume 35 Number 2

Fall 2020, Volume 35 Number 1

Thumbnail image of the cover of the fall 2020 CenterpieceThe fall 2020 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, which are still going strong—albeit remote—during the pandemic. In her Message from the Director column, Michèle Lamont details how our various programs and intellectual pursuits are thriving in our new reality. In our annual Dispatches feature, four of our Undergraduate Associates share stories of their summers—either abroad or local—and how COVID-19 affected their thesis research projects. In our other feature, In Conversation with Timothy Colton and Meg Elizabeth Rithmire, we talk to the chairs of the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Regions in a Multipolar World. They explain the origins of forming their research cluster and share what they're currently working on. Weatherhead Scholars Program Director Kathleen Molony says goodbye to the Center, where she has worked for twenty-one years. She will be retiring at the end of December 2020. And Faculty Associate Jeffry Frieden shares a warm tribute to colleague and friend Alberto Alesina, who passed away this May.... Read more about Fall 2020, Volume 35 Number 1

Spring 2020, Volume 34 Number 2

Thumbnail image of Centerpiece cover spring 2020Life 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 pandemic thus far. In our first feature, "In Conversation with Melani Cammett, Ali Asani, and Payam Mohseni," we talk to the leadership team of our new Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs about the scope of this new project, along with Shi'ism and sectarianism more broadly. In our second feature, "China in a Changed World," we ask a few members of our Graduate Student Associates Program their perspectives on some of the long-term—and perhaps less frequently discussed—consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on China and the rest of the world. We also share updates from some of our research groups, including the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations and their recent ambassador visit, and the Weatherhead Initiative on Afro-Latin American Studies, which is wrapping up its final year at the WCFIA.... Read more about Spring 2020, Volume 34 Number 2

Fall 2019, Volume 34 Number 1

Image of the Fall 2019 Centerpiece coverThe fall 2019 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities. Learn more about Acting Center Director Melani Cammett in her Message from the Director column, where she discusses a new project at the WCFIA and stresses the importance of climate change as a timely—and increasingly critical—global issue. Relatedly, one of our features this fall is the transcript from our recent Manshel Lecture by Kathryn Sikkink entitled, "Toward a Politics of Responsibility: The Case of Climate Change." If you missed the lecture, make sure to watch the video recording on our Vimeo channel. The Q&A that followed the lecture was particularly robust! Our other fall feature is our annual Dispatches column, where four Undergraduate Associates share stories from their research abroad. This year's group visited Rwanda, Belgium, Cambodia, Ghana, and many EU member states. Make sure to read our update of the 2018 Talloires conference, summarized by PhD Candidate Bo Yun Park. The conference also inspired a six-part Monkey Cage series on far-right nationalism in the Washington Post. Finally, check out an update from our brand new Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs, as well as a summary from our recently finished Weatherhead Initiative on Gender Inequality.... Read more about Fall 2019, Volume 34 Number 1

Spring 2019, Volume 33 Number 2

Image of Spring 2019 Centerpiece coverThe spring 2019 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities. In the Message from the Director, Michèle Lamont highlights the recent sharp decrease in students enrolling in foreign-language programs—and how the Weatherhead Center plans to address this new trend. For our first feature, we provide an edited excerpt of the transcript from our April 2019 Jodidi Lecture, "Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad in Conversation with Jennifer Leaning." Nadia Murad, corecipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, talked with Faculty Associate Jennifer Leaning about her harrowing escape from ISIS, and her shift from being a survivor to becoming an activist. In the second feature, “In Conversation with Pia Raffler,” we talk to Raffler, assistant professor of government, about the political economy of development. We share updates from the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations and one of our newest research clusters, the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Religion in Public Life in Africa and the African Diaspora.... Read more about Spring 2019, Volume 33 Number 2

Fall 2018, Volume 33 Number 1

Image of Fall 2018 Centerpiece coverThis fall, the Weatherhead Center celebrates its sixtieth anniversary! Center Director Michèle Lamont summarizes just how far the WCFIA has come over the years—and where it's headed in the future—in her Message from the Director. The fall 2018 issue also highlights the Center's recent activities, including the Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture on "Democracy’s Crisis: On the Political Contradictions of Financialized Capitalism," delivered by Professor Nancy Fraser of the New School. We share engaging summer thesis reports from four of our undergraduates, who traveled to Siberia, Indonesia, Switzerland, and Kenya, in our annual feature Dispatches. Several of our programs, initiatives, and clusters take stock of their recent events and provide insight to their vision looking forward.... Read more about Fall 2018, Volume 33 Number 1

Spring 2018, Volume 32 Number 2

Image of Centerpiece Spring 2018 coverThe spring 2018 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including updates on student programs and the SCANCOR-Weatherhead Partnership. In the Message from the Director, Michèle Lamont outlines some of the semester's highlights, from several new research clusters to welcoming a new cohort of Weatherhead Scholars. For our first feature, we provide an edited transcript from the March 2018 Jodidi Lecture titled "Insidious Threats to Academic Freedom in the US and Abroad," delivered by advisory committee members Michael Ignatieff and Craig Calhoun. In the second feature, “In Conversation with Joshua D. Kertzer,” we talk to Kertzer about his passion for political psychology and the need for his new research cluster on international security issues—not to mention how 'resolve' has helped him personally and professionally. And finally, we pay tribute to the loss of three affiliates of the Center—Gene Sharp, Mary Steedly, and Calestous Juma—in our In Memoriam piece.... Read more about Spring 2018, Volume 32 Number 2

Fall 2017, Volume 32 Number 1

Image of fall 2017 Centerpiece coverThe fall 2017 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including program updates on the Weatherhead Scholars Program and The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. Also included in the issue are new books published by Weatherhead Center affiliates and notable awards and promotions by our faculty in our Of Note section. The Center is working diligently to enhance its strong research community, and this effort shows in our feature, Creating Community with Weatherhead Research Clusters. Three new research clusters—on relevant topics such as global populism, comparative inequality and inclusion, and global history—are in full swing. Our annual Dispatches collection highlights the summer research experiences of four undergraduates who traveled to Colombia, India, Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom.... Read more about Fall 2017, Volume 32 Number 1

Spring 2017, Volume 31 Number 2

Spring 2017 cover imageThe spring 2017 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including updates on student programs and the Canada Program. In the Message from the Director, Michèle Lamont outlines the busy year after starting to implement external review recommendations—including a new Weatherhead Scholars Program and new research clusters, among other updates. For our first feature, we provide the transcript from the December 2016 Manshel Lecture by Robert O. Keohane titled "International Institutions In an Era of Populism, Nationalism, and Diffusion of Power." The second feature, “In Conversation with Herbert C. Kelman,” is based on an interview with Faculty Associate Emeritus Herbert C. Kelman, whose decades-long presence at the Center has focused on the influence of problem-solving workshops in conflict resolution. And finally, we remember the recent passing of one of the four WCFIA co-founders with In Memoriam: Thomas C. Schelling, 1921–2016.... Read more about Spring 2017, Volume 31 Number 2

Fall 2016, Volume 31 Number 1

Image of Centerpiece cover fall 2016The fall 2016 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including student program and Canada Program updates and new books published by Weatherhead Center affiliates. Included in the student programs section is a brief research update from a former Juster fellow about a multimedia project on climate change-induced migration on the island of Kiribati. The feature, How Do Rebels Rule When They Win? by Kai M. Thaler, examines a variety of outcomes when civil wars end in rebel victories, as they have in Nicaragua, Uganda, and Liberia. Our annual Dispatches collection highlights summer research of three undergraduates who traveled to Canada, India, and France.... Read more about Fall 2016, Volume 31 Number 1

Spring 2016, Volume 30 Number 2

Image of Spring 2016 CoverThe spring 2016 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including updates on several of our programs, including student programs, the Fellows Program, the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, and The Harvard Academy. The Message from the Director focuses on the multigenerational nature of the Center and four new projects for the upcoming academic year. The feature, “Multiculturalism in Canada's Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora” by Jennifer Hyndman, visiting scholar with the Canada Program, examines everyday multiculturalism in the first- and second-generation Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada. And finally, the feature “In Conversation with…,” is an interview with Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music Ingrid T. Monson, in which she discusses her forthcoming book, The Voice of Kenedougou, and her longstanding interest in the hybrid nature of music.... Read more about Spring 2016, Volume 30 Number 2

Fall 2015, Volume 30 Number 1

Centerpiece coverThe fall 2015 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including a high-profile visit from His Highness the Aga Khan, who delivered the 2015 Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture on the topic of "The Cosmopolitan Ethic in a Fragmented World." Our annual feature Dispatches details the summer research experiences of four Undergraduate Associates who traveled to England, Mexico, Jordan, and Brazil. In Memoriam: Stanley Hoffmann pays tribute to our long-time Faculty Associate who left an indelible mark on both the Center and the Harvard community. Finally, we provide updates on several of our programs, including the Canada Program, the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, and student programs.... Read more about Fall 2015, Volume 30 Number 1

Spring 2015, Volume 29 Number 2

Image of Spring 2015 Centerpiece coverThe spring 2015 issue of Centerpiece focuses on the Center's recent activities, including updates from the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations and student programs. The Message from the Executive Director is a self-reflective look at the past twenty-two years that Steven B. Bloomfield has been at the Center. The feature, “Soviet Planning Praxis: From Tractors to Territory” by Christina E. Crawford, examines the relationship between urban theory and architectural practice in the Soviet Union from 1917–1932. And finally, the feature “In Conversation with…,” is an interview with George Seferis Professor of Modern Greek Studies and Professor of Comparative Literature Panagiotis Roilos, that focuses on his current research, his relationship with the Center, and the importance of integrating the humanities with international relations.... Read more about Spring 2015, Volume 29 Number 2

Fall 2014, Volume 29 Number 1

Image of fall 2104 Centerpiece coverThe fall 2014 issue of Centerpiece focuses on the Center's recent activities, including a profile on Fellow and cartoonist Shreyas Navare, tributes to three former Fellows who have recently passed away, and a student program update. The feature, “The 2014 Tunisian Election: More than a Secular-Islamist Divide” by Ashley Anderson, examines the recent Tunisian elections. And finally, our annual “Dispatches” highlights the summer research of four Undergraduate Associates who traveled to Beijing, Cape Town, Ghana, Texas, and Peru.... Read more about Fall 2014, Volume 29 Number 1

Spring 2014, Volume 28 Number 2

Image of Cover of Spring 2014 CenterpieceThe spring 2014 issue of Centerpiece introduces newly appointed Center Director Michèle Lamont in the feature interview “In Conversation with….” The issue's second feature, “Political Survival and the Modern African Prince” by Brett L. Carter, focuses on African politics after the Third Wave of democracy and the struggle between autocrats and democratic institutions. In addition, "Polyglot"  is a tribute to the internationalism of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies written by departing Executive Officer, Laurence H. Winnie. Also highlighted are recent Center news and activities, undergraduate and graduate student updates, and new Faculty Associates.... Read more about Spring 2014, Volume 28 Number 2

Fall 2013, Volume 28 Number 1

Cover image of Fall 2013 CenterpieceThe fall 2013 issue of Centerpiece focuses on the Center's recent activities, including program events, the Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy, and the Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture Series. The feature, “Forging a Metropolis: State-led Urban Development in Xi’an, China" by Kyle Jaros, examines the recent boom of big cities in China. And finally, our annual "Dispatches" highlights the summer research of four Undergraduate Associates who traveled to South Africa, Europe, Zambia, and Peru.... Read more about Fall 2013, Volume 28 Number 1

Spring 2013, Volume 27 Number 2

Image of spring 2013 Centerpiece coverThe spring 2013 issue of Centerpiece focuses on the Center's recent activities, including the Undergraduate Thesis Conference and the Fellows reunion. The feature, “Local Governance and the Recentralization of Political Power in African States” by Janet I. Lewis, argues that decentralization reforms can contribute to an unintended recentralization of power. And finally, the feature “In Conversation with…,” is an interview with Assistant Professor Dara Kay Cohen that focuses on her recent projects on sexual violence during wartime and the path Professor Cohen took to reach her current research.... Read more about Spring 2013, Volume 27 Number 2

Current Issue

Fall 2023, Volume 38 Number 1

Centerpiece Fall 2023 cover.The fall 2023 issue of Centerpiece highlights the Center's recent activities, including program updates, feature articles, new books, and more. Weatherhead's new executive director, Erin Goodman, shares Center updates in the Message from the Executive Director column. Our regular Dispatches column features four of our Undergraduate Associates sharing their travel experiences abroad, in Bolivia, Syria, Rwanda, and England. For our second feature, we excerpted a portion of our recent Jodidi Lecture delivered by Dame Louise Richardson, who shares the ways universities can work to mitigate the decline of democracies worldwide. Antonia Maioni, William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies, describes the timely seminar series the Canada Program launched this semester. Our newest research cluster on identity politics had a busy semester, and we share details from their many events. We announce the newly awarded Kenneth I. Juster Fellows in our student programs update. Finally, we reflect on the role Henry Kissinger played as a founding member of our Center.... Read more about Fall 2023, Volume 38 Number 1

Archives

Spring 2023

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Spring 2021

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Fall 2022

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Fall 2020

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Spring 2022

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Fall 2021

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