The Citizen

By Wei Luo, MPP 2017 On October 13, the Shorenstein Center hosted Jeffrey Rosen for the Richard S. Salant Lecture on Freedom of the Press. Mr. Rosen is the President and CEO of the National Constitution Center and a Professor of Law at George Washington University. Speaking at the Charles Hotel’s Kennedy room, he discussed […]

Photo credit: UN By Vinay Nagaraju, MC/MPA and Mason Fellow 2017 Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and social enterprises seem to exist in disparate worlds, but there is more opportunity for synergy than available at first glance. Over the past three decades there has been a growing trend in the public sector to engage private providers to […]

  By Neil Thomas, MPP 2018 John Cassidy at The New Yorker called the October 9th town-hall debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ‘the darkest and nastiest Presidential debate in modern history’. Trump was on the defensive after The Washington Post published footage of him ogling women and big-noting his sexual prowess. He accused […]

  By John Dong, MPP 2018 On Wednesday, September 28th, the JFK Jr. Forum warmly welcomed the President of Namibia, His Excellency Dr. Hage Geingob, for a public address moderated by HKS professor Calestous Juma. In his speech, President Geingob first recounted Namibia’s historical progress in improving freedom, equality, and democracy, and then went on […]

Photo Credit: Local 26 By Ivan Rahman, MPP 2018 While sitting in my last negotiation class with Professor Brian Mandell, I could hear the chanting and drumming of the Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) workers outside of Littauer. They officially started striking on Wednesday, October 5th, requesting $35,000 in minimum salary for all HUDS employees, […]

By David Duesing, MPP 2018 On Thursday, September 29, the Kennedy School was excited to receive former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. In a speech co-moderated by HKS professor Paul E. Peterson and Harvard University professor Ronald G. Fryer, Bush discussed the state of education in the US and potential avenues of reform. A passionate advocate […]

By Wei Luo, MPP 2017 On Friday September 30, The Citizen had a chance to sit down with Nicco Mele, the director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at HKS. The following is a brief summary of the conversation.   Citizen: What is your vision for the Shorenstein Center? Nicco Mele: […]

By Matt Bubley, MPA 2018 What Last Week Tonight gets wrong – and right – about charters. The long segment on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has a rare reputation in TV journalism. It manages to treat the issues it takes up with a combination of wit, insight, and – usually – depth. That’s […]

By Sasha Ramani, MPP 2018 Self-driving cars have the potential to save thousands of lives, and a friendly regulatory atmosphere can encourage innovation into this burgeoning field. However, they may struggle to be adopted by a skeptical public. Picture: One of Uber’s autonomous Ford Fusions cruising the streets of Pittsburgh. Soon to be joined by 100 […]

By Ivan Rahman, MPP 2018 On September 13th, over 100 students packed the JFK Jr. Forum. Okendo Lewis-Gayle, HKS Election Chair, stood tall, in a beige suit behind the podium. He commenced the Kennedy School Student Government (KSSG) election session of 2016. With a radiant smile, he began the night by introducing the candidates competing […]

By Sasha Ramani, MPP 2018 Hong Kong’s Legislative election on September 4th saw newindependence-leaning candidates winning seats in the territory’s Legislative Council (LegCo). Traditionally, Hong Kong’s politics have been divided among the pro-Beijing “Establishment” camp and the pan-Democratic camp. This election saw the new “localist” camp take 6 out of 70 LegCo seats;/. Localists are […]

By David Duesing, MPP 2018 On Monday, September 12, the JFK Jr. Forum received the Academy Award-winning director, screenwriter and producer Oliver Stone in a conversation moderated by a man similarly distinguished within his field, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Ron Suskind. Stone, the screenplay writer of works such as Scarface and director of myriad […]