By Sanjay Gokhale, MC/MPA’14 After three years of brutal civil war, 150,000 deaths and nine million refugees; Syria is still burning with no end in sight. International regimes are at stake, stability in the Middle East is under threat and, most importantly, millions of lives in Syria are at risk. The crisis itself is wretchedly […]

By Roman Rubchenko, MC/MPA’14 For the last 23 years, since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been struggling to become a democracy. The Ukrainian constitution outlines a system with a representative democracy, where people elect the representatives, president and the parliament who run the country on their behalf. But unfortunately the system of […]

By Christina Marin, MPP’14 One of the unique aspects of studying at the Kennedy School is how news events anywhere in the world can have a personal effect on one (or many) members of the community. This year was no different. Whether it was the government shutdown, the rebound of the Boston Marathon or the […]

With the diverse background and skillsets of public policy and administration students, one of the most exciting moments is seeing where they end up after the Harvard Kennedy School. On average, two thirds of graduating students enter the public or nonprofit sectors, accepting employment at anywhere from small, rural governments to large international nonprofits. Because […]

By Simon R. Bone, Editor-in-Chief A few weeks ago, Dean David T. Ellwood and University President Drew G. Faust shared the Forum with two heads of state to launch the “Campaign for Harvard Kennedy School”. With a goal of raising $500 million, the campaign will allow HKS to provide a new level of leadership and […]

By Ran Wei, MC-MPA’14 With the academic year coming to an end, the HKS student newspaper, The Citizen, invited Professor Nicholas Burns to offer his thoughts on global affairs. Burns is the Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is the Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project […]

Taking advantage of a few minutes of downtime between the festivities surrounding IDEASpHERE (May 14-May 16) and Commencement (May 27-May 30), The Citizen asked Dean David Ellwood a few questions pertinent to this year’s graduating class. Dean Ellwood will be celebrating his 10th year at the helm of the Kennedy School this July. He joined […]

By Karly Schledwitz, graduating MPP student and Asia Leadership Trek participant In a few short days, an eager group of Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) students and new graduates will embark on the trip of a lifetime. I am fortunate to be among them. The Asia Leadership Trek (ALT) is a whirlwind adventure packed with an […]

By Simon R. Bone, Editor-in-Chief In a five-times oversubscribed event, the Harvard Kennedy School was fortunate enough to host Tony Blair, Ex-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Middle East Peace Envoy, in an event sponsored by The Center for Public Leadership. After being introduced, he remarked that he was reminded of being asked once […]

No, you’re not dreaming. It’s almost finished. Remember that very first time a thousand years ago when you first set foot in the Littauer building and realized why MC-Escher was not better known for architecture? Reflect upon when you got a B for that paper you’d spent weeks on, while your friend who just rewrote […]

By Christina Marin, MPP’14 For the 565 students accepting a diploma this week, the moment comes with a mix of honor and trepidation. Honor to be among the 46,000 Kennedy School graduates tasked with improving the communities in which they live and trepidation because they know the challenges are great. A few weeks before graduation, […]

By Ted Zagraniski, Culture Editor While no official figures exist as yet, you may safely bet that a large number of the 500-plus HKSers who are soon to graduate will find their next (or first) employment in one of two places: Washington DC or Boston. Besides walkable street grids, monumental architectural icons, and an increasingly […]