At 10:30 a.m. last Wednesday, I turned to my friend and noticed that nearly half the usual students were missing from our linguistics lecture. “Where did everyone go?” I asked. As I later learned, most had gone home for the long weekend—it was, after all, ‘no big deal’ to skip an optional-attendance class. Since starting […]
The classroom has evolved throughout the years. Handwritten notes and chalkboards have slowly changed to Google Doc tabs and PowerPoint slides. Lengthy textbooks are now available online and in condensed formats. And technologies like AI allow students to rapidly consume information. With the add/drop period behind us, most students have already learned which of their […]
At Harvard, midterm season sees students celebrating a 48% because it’s above the class average. Yes, Stat 110, I’m looking at you. Every semester, these midterm scores bring about an onslaught of headlines from news outlets that haven’t written about Gen Z’s “academic decline” in a while. It’s nothing new. But the question remains: is […]
Michael Jackson moonwalking away after pilfering your KFC order. SpongeBob SquarePants getting pulled over by highway patrol. Peter Griffin duking it out with anime characters. These absurd scenarios, once confined to dreams or fanfiction, can now be conjured in seconds through OpenAI’s new video-generation model, Sora 2. All it takes is a few keystrokes and […]
The beach stretches endlessly into the dark. It’s the early season, still too cold to go in the water. I can see boats with their lights on far in the distance. I scan across the water’s edge, catching glimpses of buoys bobbing up and down. The air pulls tight against my skin, cold enough that […]
“I think Confucius would critique Menzi’s emphasis on rewards and punishments.” “I think men have a higher social dominance orientation than women.” “I think the limbic system and prefrontal cortex are in a tug of war.” At Harvard, no class statement seems complete without an “I think.” It slips out unconsciously, often going unnoticed by […]
One of my closest friends recently experienced a Harvard student’s worst nightmare: a mid-semester concussion. What shocked me more than her text sharing the news was how it happened: a walking accident. My dear friend was speed-walking to class when she collided with another student, leaving her encounter with a new head injury. While this […]
While the Square has a variety of traditional dinner-date spots, there are also ways to get creative with more unconventional spots, including my personal favorite: the Charles River. Having grown up in the Cambridge area, some of my favorite memories were made along the Charles River and I’ve made it a goal of mine to […]
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, much of Europe fell into a period of cultural and intellectual stagnation named the “Dark Ages.” For hundreds of years, European nations saw a decline in the production of literature and science—a production that had once been customary. This intellectual catastrophe in history has robbed modern generations […]
The Head of the Charles Regatta is the world’s largest three-day rowing competition, held annually on the Charles River. This year, the regatta celebrates its 60th anniversary. Though centered on commemorating the sport of rowing, the HOCR weekend has evolved into a lively festival that blends spectating a traditional competition with enjoying many other perks […]