The Citizen
The Citizen was the independent, biweekly Harvard Kennedy School student newspaper, providing a forum for the HKS community to read about news, features and perspectives on global issues; stay current on events at HKS and the broader Harvard community; and express opinion about topics of importance to HKS students.
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An HKS Podcast with a Mission to Fix the News
05.27.20
The Dive podcast, launched by two HKS students and a Loeb fellow, features Harvard faculty discussing the news. Download their episodes here, including a soon to be released interview with President Lawrence Bacow on Harvard’s COVID response. When New York Magazine editor-in-chief Adam Moss stepped down last year, he spent Fall 2019 as a fellow […]

Your Government or Nonprofit Job Does Not Mean Public Service
05.26.20
It’s common to hear a disapproving sigh anytime I tell someone I’ll be working in management consulting after HKS. I’m grateful to have a job, especially now during these challenging economic times. Before I accepted the offer, however, I kept asking myself: how could I, as someone who cares about public service, possibly work in […]

Harvard Kennedy School Student Arbitrarily Detained in India
05.25.20
A doctor and his colleagues in Iran established the nation’s first HIV/AIDS prevention and care initiative – the “Triangular clinics” in 2000. This innovative model was accepted as a best practice by the World Health Organization and internationally. Unfortunately, in June 2008, he was arrested and eight months later, after a 5 minute trial, he […]

COVID-19 Exposes the Limits of Our Education on Race and Racism: Why Harvard Kennedy School Must Aspire to Be an Anti-Racist Institution
05.23.20
This May has been an Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month like no other. Usually it is a time for Asian Americans to reflect on and celebrate our heritage, predecessors and ancestors, and contributions to our communities. Instead, this year we find ourselves defending our basic right to be in the United States in […]

Confessions of a Perennial Optimist
05.22.20
I find it very difficult to cry. It’s not like I forgot how – I still cry during sad movies. But for some reason, I can’t cry for myself. I couldn’t even shed a single tear when my grandmother died last summer after a decade-long illness. It’s like someone turned off the tap for my […]

HKS Senior Scramble
05.20.20
It’s commonly known that love springs…in the spring. Perhaps you had plans to finally make that move at spring formal or on the boat cruise, but got covid-blocked?…or perhaps you knew that once you submitted your PAE, you would most definitely find your BAE. Whatever your case is, The Citizen is here to help you […]

Editorial Cartoon: First, Tell Me I’m A Genius
05.1.20
Drew Madson is an award winning illustrator, educator, and entrepreneur. He studies Technology, Innovation and Education at Harvard Graduate School Education when he’s not in class at HKS. See more of his illustrations here. Instagram @drew1drew2drewyou

Editorial Cartoon: Witch Doctor
04.27.20
Drew Madson is an award winning illustrator, educator, and entrepreneur. He studies Technology, Innovation and Education at Harvard Graduate School Education when he’s not in class at HKS. See more of his illustrations here. Instagram @drew1drew2drewyou

I’m not Violating your Rights, and I can Live with Hurting your Feelings
04.24.20
Original Cartoon by Drew Madson. See more of his illustrations here. Instagram @drew1drew2drewyou Back in 2007, I was holidaying in Iran with a Danish friend. This was a few months after the Cartoon Crisis where the Danish satirist Kurt Westergaard drew the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. To put it mildly, it didn’t go down […]

Don’t be UNSAT: Why HKS Students Should NOT Opt-in to Letter Grades
04.22.20
Celebrating individual merit is a core feature at the Kennedy School. We have fellowships, while other schools have need-based financial aid. We split our buildings into parts and name them after elite benefactors. This pandemic calls on us to put that spirit of meritocratic competition aside. Unless necessary to fulfill a specific requirement for a […]

Ragù Bianco, an Act of Love
04.20.20
The history of Italian cuisine spans centuries and cultures: from Greek to Roman, Byzantine to Jewish, past to present. This diversity is reflected in the richness of the regional Italian cuisines, which are handed down from generation to generation. The foundation of Italian cuisine is the use of fresh, high quality products. In fact, many […]

How NOT to Run a Public Policy Conference
04.17.20
A former Minister of State, a well-recognized journalist, and a political scientist with a large Twitter following walk into a bar. They’ve just finished speaking at the Harvard India Conference and now sip whiskey and laugh boisterously at the Charles Hotel. The student organisers who invited them to discuss India’s pressing public issues have raised […]