SEOUL, South Korea â A paper by Harvard Law School Japanese legal studies professor J. Mark Ramseyer that claims sex slaves taken by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II were actually recruited, contracted sex workers generated international controversy, academic criticism, and student petitions at Harvard this week.
The paper, âContracting for Sex in the Pacific War,â made headlines across South Korean media and was met with widespread public anger. Ramseyerâs work is set to be published in the March issue of the International Review of Law and Economics. Korean outlets picked up the news after Ramseyerâs paper was featured in a Jan. 28 press release in Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper.
UPDATED: February 5, 2021 at 6:45 p.m.
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences officially welcomed concentrators from the class of 2023 at its first virtual sophomore convocation Thursday night.
Nearly 100 sophomores – in fields ranging from Computer Science to Applied Math to Mechanical Engineering – joined SEAS Dean Francis J. Doyle III for the 75-minute event, which featured keynote speaker R. Martin “Marty” Chavez ’85, a panel of five alumni, and a virtual tour of the newly constructed Science and Engineering Complex in Allston.
Chavez, a former chief financial officer at Goldman Sachs, emphasized how a liberal arts education combined with computer science enabled him to move up the ranks of Wall Street.
Harvard Applied Physics professor Federico Capasso was awarded the 2021 Frederic Ives Medal and Jarus W. Quinn Prize, the Optical Society announced Thursday.
The award, which recognizes overall distinction in optics, is often considered among the field’s highest forms of recognition. Capasso will receive the award for his work on quantum electrodynamical forces known as Casimir forces, as well as his contribution to the invention of quantum cascade lasers, which are used to identify and examine molecules found in explosives and drugs.
Capasso’s recent work has utilized the Casimir effect – defined by the Optical Society as “attraction between metal surfaces in vacuum due to its zero point energy” – to analyze motion in microscopic electrical systems.
UPDATED: Jan. 20, 2021 at 5:40 p.m.
During a tumultuous four years under the administration of Donald Trump, local leaders have dealt with the fallout of how its policies trickled down into the lives of Cambridge residents. While Covid-19 and economic fallout raged nationally, the cityâs top issues â small business erosion, food insecurity, and homelessness â have all been exacerbated.
Now, as President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office, he has proposed lengthy plans to tackle the nationâs crises. Looking ahead, Cambridge leaders said they have both hopes and demands for renewed local support under a Biden administration.
Under Trump, the Cambridge Community Foundation, a public charity that funds nonprofits around the city, transitioned to devoting its funding to combat the effects of the administrationâs âregressive policies,â according to its president, Geeta K. Pradhan.
Following narrow victories for Raphael G. Warnock and T. Jonathan âJonâ Ossoff in the runoff elections for Georgiaâs Senate seats, Harvard students met the news of a Democratic-controlled Senate with a mix of elation, regret, and tempered anticipation.
Ossoff defeated former Sen. David A. Perdue Jr. (R-Ga.) by 1.2 points, while Warnock defeated Sen. Kelly L. Loeffler (R-Ga.) by about two points. With these victories, Democrats will hold a narrow majority in the Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris as the tiebreaker in the 50-50 split.
Several Harvard students spent the day celebrating the Senate results, with many in states of disbelief. Anna L. Duffy â21, who worked as a Democratic field organizer in Georgia, said she spent the runoff day celebrating on a call with other campaigners for the Georgia Democrats.