Harvard Magazine

10/08/2025

We're collecting thoughts from the Harvard University community about the influence of Taylor Swift on pop culture, music, and everything in between.

If you're interested in being quoted in an article, please fill out this survey to share your thoughts: https://forms.gle/gFZRNSqN6sNzWBDx8

Hello Harvard! We're gearing up for the release of The Life of a Showgirl, and in true Harvard fashion, we want to link America's favorite English teacher to the literary tradition. Please fill out this survey to share your deep thoughts and your Taylor Swift appreciation.

10/08/2025

John G. Roberts Jr. ’76, J.D. ’79, has written hundreds of Supreme Court opinions in his 20 years as chief justice of the United States. The most important, to the nation and to his legacy, may be his opinion in Trump v. United States, which changed the balance of power among the branches of government—and rewrote the meaning of the Constitution.

Read here 👉: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/legal/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-trump-united-states

🖼️: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., portrait by Sam Kerr

10/07/2025

Harvard Football demolished Holy Cross 59-24 last Saturday for its third straight rout.

In its three games so far this season, the Crimson have outscored their opponents 159-38. In first quarters alone, Harvard has piled up 70 points to its foes’ seven. On Saturday, the Crimson outgained the Crusaders 528 yards to 333.

Another week, another blowout, this one against an in-state rival

10/02/2025

Calling research universities “an enormously important part of our national life,” former Vice President Mike Pence expressed both support for and criticism of Harvard during a packed talk Tuesday evening at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).

Answering questions about the state of the nation, the former vice president advocated a return to Reagan-era Republican politics and the “heavy doses of civility” he sees as needed to bolster democracy.

The former vice president denounces political violence, expresses hope for a deal between Trump and the University.

10/02/2025

Inside Harvard’s Taylor Swift Course: An English course pairs the music with Willa Cather, William Wordsworth, and Dolly Parton.

https://www.harvardmagazine.com/university-news/taylor-swift-harvard-class-english-professor-stephanie-burt

An English course pairs the music with Willa Cather, William Wordsworth, and Dolly Parton.

10/02/2025

Are you a Harvard affiliate and a Taylor Swift fan? 👀 We're gearing up for the release of "The Life of a Showgirl," and in true Harvard fashion, we want to link America's favorite English teacher to the literary tradition.

Please fill out this survey to share your thoughts and your Taylor Swift appreciation: https://forms.gle/gFZRNSqN6sNzWBDx8

Hello Harvard! We're gearing up for the release of The Life of a Showgirl, and in true Harvard fashion, we want to link America's favorite English teacher to the literary tradition. Please fill out this survey to share your deep thoughts and your Taylor Swift appreciation.

10/01/2025

President Donald Trump told reporters in the White House Tuesday that a deal with Harvard University was imminent, even as his administration announced a new effort to squeeze the University’s finances.

Meanwhile, in the latest move in the White House’s multipronged assault on Harvard, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Monday that it was referring the University for “disbarment,” laying the path for the administration to block Harvard from receiving any future federal grants or contracts.

Read here 👉: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/harvard-in-the-crosshairs/harvard-trump-deal-disbarment-federal-funding

📸: Photograph by Niko Yaitanes / Harvard Magazine

09/29/2025

With a final score of Harvard 41 - Brown 7, Harvard Football assertively avenged last year’s loss to their Ivy rival at Saturday's home opener.

The Crimson assertively avenge last year’s loss to their Ivy rival.

09/29/2025

For three days each fall, hundreds of cider-hounds, families, and pomological devotees gather in Western Massachusetts to celebrate the apple and the joys of hard cider.

Featuring about 18 small-batch cider producers and orchards, CiderDays offers workshops, tastings, talks, and other fruitful activities from October 31 through November 2.

Visiting small-batch cideries and orchards in Massachusetts

09/29/2025

On September 2nd, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a rare joint statement clarifying that registered exchanges can list and trade certain cryptocurrency assets.

While not new legislation, this move could finally bring clarity after years of regulatory gray areas. Professor Marco Di Maggio, former director of Harvard Business School's Fintech, Crypto, and Web3 Lab, discusses the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency in the United States economy.

The former director of Harvard’s fintech lab reflects on the future of digital assets.

09/29/2025

What do Taylor Swift and Alexander Pope have in common? According to Harvard University professor Stephanie Burt, more than you'd think.

In her sold-out course last spring “English 183TS: Taylor Swift and Her World," Swift's lyrics are paired with poetry by Pope, William Wordsworth, and even the Georgics of Virgil—showing how pop music and classic literature both explore fame, power, identity, and public judgment.

With the release of Swift's new album "The Life of a Showgirl" on October 3rd, 2025, Burt reflects on the cultural sway of the Swift generation—and the power of writing where "almost every detail is a fantasy, wobbly and unstable," and "the emotions of a teenage girl—so often dismissed as frivolous or unimportant—stand as the grounding element."

An English course pairs the music with Willa Cather, William Wordsworth, and Dolly Parton.

09/26/2025

The Harvard Film Archive’s retrospective “Floating Clouds…The Cinema of Naruse Mikio” through November 3 offers 45 films spotlighting the work of Japanese director Mikio Naruse.

Naruse's work was known for capturing shōshimin-eiga (the dramas of ordinary people) alongside threads of existentialism. After World War II, as Japan's loss gave way to a period of reform and industrialization, Naruse dove into themes of women's economic independence, the structure of Japanese inheritance culture, and the balances between love, work, and family.

A retrospective of the filmmaker’s works, from Floating Clouds to Flowing