Gene Sharp, 1928–2018

Gene Sharp, former CFIA Associate and scholar of nonviolent political resistance, dies at 90

The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs recently mourned the loss of Gene Sharp, a political scientist and former associate of the Center. Sharp, who died in his Boston home shortly after his ninetieth birthday, founded the Center’s former Program on Nonviolent Sanctions in Conflict and Defense (PNS). 

The rationale behind PNS was based on the simple premise about the nature of political power—that it is...

The following Harvard faculty accepted invitations to be WCFIA Faculty Associates during the 2017–2018 academic year:

Sidney Chalhoub, Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, Departments of History and African and African American Studies, Harvard University. The social history of Brazil in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with emphasis on the history of slavery, race, public health, and the literature of Machado de Assis.

Christie McDonald, Smith Research Professor of...

2018 Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize Winners

The Weatherhead Center congratulates the following Undergraduate Associates who were awarded 2018 Thomas Temple Hoopes Prizes on the basis of their outstanding scholarly work.

Benjamin David Grimm, “Being...

Nearly two years ago, the Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (SCANCOR) opened a second location at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the first of which started at Stanford University thirty years ago. The SCANCOR-Weatherhead Partnership was launched on October 19, 2016...

On April 20, 2018, Harvard hosted a retirement symposium for Professor Robert D. Putnam. The event featured five panels that focused on the most important work of Putnam’s career—his “Two-Level Games” essay, and the books...

How Democracies Die

By Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

Donald Trump’s presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we’d be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel...

Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture
by Michael Ignatieff and Craig Calhoun | March 21, 2018

"Academic Freedom and Authoritarian Populism: Lessons from the Front Line"

Delivered by Michael Ignatieff, president of Central European...

Interview by Michelle Nicholasen

Assistant Professor of Government Joshua D. Kertzer studies what might be called the gray matter of international security—what lies behind the decisions of...

As we close out another semester, I would like to share a few of our accomplishments from the past few months.

Our executive committee just approved the creation of two new Weatherhead Research Clusters: Religion in Public Life in Africa will...

The 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