The Weatherhead Center is a diverse community of over 400 students, staff, visiting scholars, and faculty who are dedicated to social science research on international, transnational, global, and comparative issues. The Center is committed to the following community values:
- Respect for differences: We respect and honor the dignity and freedom of expression of each person, regardless of gender identity/expression, race, sexual orientation, political views, national or social origin, religion, personal appearance, disabilities, or other status.
- Accountability for unprofessional conduct: We are responsible—individually and collectively—for the impact of our words and actions on others and on our community. We commit ourselves to creating an environment that is free from harassment, microaggressions, biases, and discrimination.
- Honesty, integrity, and transparency: Each Weatherhead community member commits to act with honesty and integrity in accordance with the highest professional and ethical standards. We commit ourselves to building a culture of open communication and transparency.
- Pursuit of excellence through collaboration: We are committed to the highest standards of research, teaching, and learning. As students, staff, visitors, and faculty, we pursue academic excellence through active and thoughtful collaboration.
- Empathy and compassion: We acknowledge multiple challenges in our personal lives, including work/life balance, childcare, eldercare, illness, disabilities, and more. We treat our community members with empathy and compassion, and work together to adapt to changing and uncertain circumstances.
As we uphold these community values, we strive to integrate them into Weatherhead’s policies, practices, and guidelines. Our continuous work includes but is not limited to:
- Seeking continuous input from students, staff, visitors, and faculty on areas for improvement and growth through multiple communication channels.
- Acknowledging the structural power differentials at the University, which especially impact the well-being of students, staff, and nontenured faculty.
- Building a culture of speaking up and an empowering climate for all community members, especially women, LGBTQ+, BIPOCs, and individuals with marginalized identities.
- Engaging ourselves in critical self-examination of existing Weatherhead policies, practices, and guidelines that may contribute to systemic inequities and incorporating an equity lens into our everyday work.
- Recognizing that this work requires cultural humility and sensitivity, and at times demands us to engage in difficult conversations.
Valuing Accessibility
The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs is committed to the full inclusion of affiliates and visitors with disabilities in its community life. We aim to create an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from our activities and programming. If you have questions about the University policies, please visit University Disability Resources.
Land Acknowledgement
The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs acknowledges that Harvard University is built and operated on the ancestral land of the Massachusett people, the original inhabitants of what is currently known as Cambridge and Boston. These lands were the sacred homeland of Indigenous people who were forcibly removed in the wake of systemic displacement, dispossession, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. We commit to educating ourselves and furthering our understanding of Indigenous peoples from past, present, and future generations. (Read more at Harvard University’s Native American Program.)
The Weatherhead Center Values Statement was drafted in 2022 by the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Standing Committee:
Kaitlyn Chriswell
Graduate Student Associate. PhD Candidate, Department of Government, Harvard University.
Michelle Eureka
Administrative Manager.
Shinju Fujihira
Executive Director, Program on US-Japan Relations.
Erez Manela
Director, Graduate Student Programs; Faculty Associate. Professor of History, Department of History, Harvard University.
Clare Putnam
Coordinator, Student Programs and Fellowships.
Derek Robey
Graduate Student Associate; Graduate Research Fellow, Canada Program. PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, Harvard University.
Kaori Urayama
Executive Officer, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
This document was last updated August 1, 2023