Colloquy

Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
  • 4.7 (7)
  • SCIENCE
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Conversations with visionary scholars and thinkers from the Harvard PhD community

  1. Voting Rights, Climate, and the Most Important Election in US History: A Conversation with Dean Emma Dench and Professor Stephen Ansolabehere

    1D AGO

    Voting Rights, Climate, and the Most Important Election in US History: A Conversation with Dean Emma Dench and Professor Stephen Ansolabehere

    As states around the country face off in a contest of Gerrymandering, what is the future of voting rights in the United States? Will the Supreme Court nullify what’s left of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965? How will accelerating climate change effect US politics? And what might happen in the all-important election of 2028? Harvard's Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government Stephen Ansolabehere, PhD '89, an expert in public opinion and elections and a consultant for the CBS News Election Decision Desk, recently joined Dean Emma Dench of the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to address these and other questions in a discussion of elections, energy, and the public mood.

    46 min
  2. A Breakthrough in Studying Diseases of the Brain

    12/05/2025

    A Breakthrough in Studying Diseases of the Brain

    Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head injuries. It has been found in professional athletes, soldiers, and others who have experienced years of those traumas. New research from Harvard Griffin GSAS alumni Chanthia Ma and Guanlan Dong may help us better understand this condition. Their study looks at the smallest units of brain biology—individual neurons—and finds surprising clues written in the DNA itself. Using single-cell genome sequencing, they discovered that neurons in people with CTE carry distinctive patterns of genetic damage—patterns that may overlap with those seen in Alzheimer’s disease. In this episode of Colloquy, Ma discusses how her work not only sheds light on how brain trauma leads to long-term decline but also hints at possible shared mechanisms across different neurodegenerative conditions.

    21 min
  3. “Was the American Revolution a Civil War?” and Other Thorny Questions about the Nation’s Founding

    11/07/2025

    “Was the American Revolution a Civil War?” and Other Thorny Questions about the Nation’s Founding

    Us against the redcoats. That's how we often think of the American Revolution. In Ken Burns’ latest film, scheduled to drop later this month on PBS, the acclaimed documentarian takes on that simplistic notion of the nation's founding and many others. The revolution was actually a civil war, Burns says, one that pitted Americans, including indigenous and Black folk, against each other as much as the British.  So, what were the divisions among the inhabitants of the British colonies and their neighbors? How did they flare into war? How did a fledgling nation with no central government or standing army defeat the world’s largest empire? And what were the contributions of indigenous and Black people and women? Philip C. Mead, PhD ’12, former chief historian and head curator of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, weighs in.

    37 min
  4. In the Snare of the Devil: What Really Caused the Salem Witch Crisis

    10/03/2025

    In the Snare of the Devil: What Really Caused the Salem Witch Crisis

    “How long have you been in the snare of the devil?” That was the lose‑lose question asked of those—mostly women—accused of witchcraft in Essex County, where Salem Village was located, in 1692. According to the Cornell University historian Mary Beth Norton, PhD ’69, however, it was the accusers, rather than their targets, who were in the thrall of something powerful. In her 2002 Ambassador Award–winning book In the Devil’s Snare, Norton says that the Salem witchcraft crisis was driven not by a demonic force, but rather by the trauma of the nearby wars with New England’s Indigenous populations—conflicts that had been raging for many years and had left an indelible mark on many refugees who fled to towns on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

    30 min
  5. What Happens When Your Brain Goes to the Supermarket and Other Stories of Human Adaptability

    09/05/2025

    What Happens When Your Brain Goes to the Supermarket and Other Stories of Human Adaptability

    We all want to live as long and as well as possible. Diet and exercise are crucial, but how can we make sense of the flood of information, which sometimes seems to contradict itself? More importantly, how can we adapt the information in ways that work for us as individuals? Know thyself, answers Duke University Professor Herman Pontzer, PhD ’06. Every body has a story, he asserts in his new book, Adaptable. So does every part of our body. The main characters are our organs and systems. The themes and plot are a mishmash of genes and our environment. The result is an astonishing amount of diversity across humanity, united by our common ability to adapt over time and place. Pontzer says that a deeper understanding of how our bodies evolved and how that process shapes our biology can help us better take charge of our health.

    25 min
  6. Living Tombs: Toward a Fluid Understanding of Architectural Space

    08/29/2025

    Living Tombs: Toward a Fluid Understanding of Architectural Space

    2025 Harvard Horizons Scholar Sergio Alarcón Robledo explores ancient Egyptian architecture through an interdisciplinary approach that sits at the crossroads of archaeology, Egyptology, and architecture. By inquiring about the sensorial experiences of the past, the PhD student in Near Eastern languages and civilizations at the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences seeks to understand why ancient funerary structures changed and evolved into monumental buildings. Collaborating with experts from Stanford University, Alarcón Robledo employed acoustic analysis to unravel how these ancient spaces would have shaped sound and, consequently, the human interactions that took place within them.

    7 min
  7. Empire of String: Unraveling the Enigma of Inka Khipus

    08/14/2025

    Empire of String: Unraveling the Enigma of Inka Khipus

    The Inka Empire, the largest in the pre-Columbian Americas, is renowned for its impressive engineering feats, including an extensive road network and monumental architecture. Although the Inkas did not have a traditional writing system, they recorded information using a unique method: khipus. These knotted cords were essential tools for communication and record-keeping. Through meticulous structural analysis and documentation, FitzPatrick seeks to uncover the meanings encoded in khipus beyond their numerical knots. FitzPatrick’s project not only aims to advance archaeological knowledge but also seeks to reframe public understanding of the Inka Empire's complex administrative capabilities. By preserving and interpreting khipus, he hopes to reveal a more nuanced history of the Andean civilizations, illuminating the enduring legacy of their cultural innovations for contemporary audiences, as well as a powerful Indigenous perspective on Andean history—one distinct from narratives provided by Europeans.

    8 min
  8. Embracing Twilight: Older Women Poets of the Slavic World and the Unfurling of Their Voices

    07/30/2025

    Embracing Twilight: Older Women Poets of the Slavic World and the Unfurling of Their Voices

    The figure of the young, tragic male poet has long dominated cultural narratives about artistic brilliance and early death. But what if poetic genius deepens, rather than fades, with age? In this talk given at the 2025 Harvard Horizons Symposium, Slavic languages and literatures PhD candidate and Harvard Horizons Scholar Alex Braslavsky explores the creative power of poets in their advanced age in her project, "Embracing Twilight: Older Women Poets and the Unfurling of Their Voices". Focusing on three radical women writers, Braslavsky examines how aging can become a source of artistic innovation, personal transformation, and visionary insight. Drawing on archival research and a deep connection to Slavic literary traditions, her work challenges dominant cultural myths of decline and illuminates the enduring power of late-life creativity.

    7 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Conversations with visionary scholars and thinkers from the Harvard PhD community

Information

  • Creator
    Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    67
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Colloquy

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