Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

In the News

An Archival History of Women’s Education at Harvard

Harvard Crimson, March 28, 2012

Separated by more than a century, these two voices inhabit the same space: the Radcliffe College Archives at Schlesinger Library. In paper soft with age and still crisp from the printer, in cursive loops and cartridge-ink, they tell their stories. These stories are bookends to the institution in which the library is housed, and that which they document: Radcliffe, first an annex, then a College, and now a center for advanced research. The century between them brought a radical rethinking of not only co-education at Harvard, but of a woman’s traditional place in the world.

Radcliffe Fellow Leaves Biology Test Tubes Behind, Picks Up Camera

Harvard Gazette, March 22, 2012
[Photo by Kris Snibbe]

Shilo traded his lab coat for a camera bag this year, which he is spending at the Radcliffe Institute. Shilo has been peering through a camera lens, working on a project that uses scientific images and photographs of everyday people to explain concepts in developmental biology to the public.

Margaret Marshall Named Radcliffe Medalist

Harvard Magazine, March 19, 2012
[Margaret Marshall Photograph courtesy of Choate Hall & Stewart]

This year's Radcliffe Institute Medalist is Margaret H. Marshall, Ed.M. '69, the twenty-fourth chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court (now retired). She is senior counsel at Choate Hall & Stewart, LLP, as well as a senior research fellow and lecturer at Harvard Law School. (She is also an incorporator of Harvard Magazine Inc.) Marshall will give the keynote address during the Radcliffe Day luncheon on May 25 in Radcliffe Yard.

Harvard Heads Southwest

Harvard Gazette, March 13, 2012

The nation's first institution of higher learning added another first to its list this week, showcasing its digital initiatives and innovation rock stars at the South by Southwest Interactive festival (SXSW). Radcliffe Fellow Kara Oehler showcased Zeega, a Harvard Library Lab-funded system that she co-founded and that facilitates the creation of participatory documentaries.

The Parenting Divide

Harvard Gazette, March 12, 2012
[Photo by Kris Snibbe]

As a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute, she is exploring how Taiwanese and Chinese immigrants negotiate cultural differences in child rearing and how they parent transnationally.

Lizabeth Cohen Appointed Radcliffe Institute Dean

Harvard Magazine, March 8, 2012

Lizabeth Cohen, interim dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study since last July, has been appointed dean by President Drew Faust, who was RIAS's founding dean before becoming Harvard president.

Cohen Named Dean of Radcliffe

Harvard Gazette, March 8, 2012
[Photo by Tony Rinaldo]

Harvard President Drew Faust announces the appointment of Lizabeth Cohen as dean of the Radcliffe Institute. 

Professor & Team: Daniel L. Smail

Harvard Crimson, March 8, 2012

Professor Smail has spent this academic year at the Radcliffe Institute, where he studies what he terms the "medieval world of goods" by sifting through 14th and 15th century household inventories. This project is unique because of its collaborative nature: Smail is working with sophomores Mark S. Krass, Naomi M. Wills, and Matthew Wozny to collect and interpret his data.

From Embryos to Evolution: Evo-Devo

@ the Radcliffe Institute, March 5, 2012
[Nicole Le Douarin, photo by Tony Rinaldo]

Scientists trying to understand the evolutionary past have gained insight from studying embryonic development—a new area of science called evo-devo. Nicole Le Douarin, a pioneer of modern developmental biology, spoke at Radcliffe on how studying embryonic development sheds light on a key innovation in vertebrate evolution: the emergence of a head and brain. 

Orderly Living

Harvard Magazine, March 1, 2012
[Image courtesy of Houghton Library]

In March 2010, a group of colleaguesgot together at the Radcliffe Institute for a colloquium on German manuscript illumination. The speakers visited Houghton Library, where librarians had spread out for examination virtually all of the German illuminated manuscripts the library has. These treasures knocked the socks off the assembled academics, who decided that each would choose one of the fragments before them as the subject of a short essay. 

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