• Walking Tour of Harvard Yard…and Slightly Beyond,
  October 6
• A Visit to the Harvard Art Museum,
  October 19
• A Tour of the Harvard University River Houses,
  October 28
• Strength in What Remains,
  November 17
• How Things Work at Harvard University,
  December 9
• Going Green: A Fair Celebrating VPA's Sustainable Programs,
  December 11

Walking Tour of Harvard Yard…and Slightly Beyond
Presenter: Susan Shefte, Office of the Vice President for Administration

Whether you are new to Harvard or a veteran employee who has not ventured too far beyond your own office, you can benefit from learning more about Harvard’s campus. Join us for a walking tour that will take you through Harvard Yard, over to the Science Center and down to the River Houses. You will learn what offices are currently housed in the buildings on the tour and pick up some interesting tidbits from Harvard’s past. Tours will include information and vouchers for a wide range of fun/interesting things to do at the University. This will be a great chance to orient yourself to the University, no matter how long you’ve been here.

A Visit to the Harvard Art Museum
Presenter: Dorothy Gillerman, Docent

In 1874 when the President and Fellows of Harvard College appointed Charles Eliot Norton the first professor of art history in America, they could hardly have anticipated a day when Harvard would have three distinct art museums, each a vital part of the university and the larger museum community. Today, the museums are undergoing a major transformation that will unite the three – the Fogg, the Busch-Reisinger, and the Sackler - in one facility on Quincy Street. On this tour, you will learn more about the renovation and also explore a current Sackler collection that explores the legacy of ideas, motifs, and styles derived from the ancient Greeks and Romans – a collection designed to highlight the comparisons between works of widely different types and periods.

A Tour of the Harvard University River Houses
Presenter: Haywood, Kirkland House Manager; Francisco Medeiros, Elliott House Manager

While the creation of a House system emulating the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge had long been a dream of Harvard President Lowell (1909-33), it was not until 1929, through the $13 million bequest of Edward S. Harkness, that Lowell’s vision was realized on a grand scale. The original construction of river houses was intended to combat growing social and class schisms in the student community of Harvard. Today there are twelve undergraduate houses. Our tour will look at the architecture and use of Kirkland and Elliott Houses and visit some of the beautiful spaces inside. Following the tour, please join us for a complimentary lunch in one of the River House dining halls.

Book Group
Strength in What Remains
By Tracy Kidder

Strength in What Remains is acclaimed author Tracy Kidder’s newest book, the story of a medical student, Deo, who flees the ethnic massacres in Burundi and makes his way to New York City in 1994. Against absurd odds, he draws on his own ambition and the kindness of several New Yorkers and makes his way to Columbia University, then medical school and American citizenship. Tracy Kidder retells Deo’s struggles as an illegal immigrant, and then follows him back to Burundi, where he recalls the horrors of his narrow escape from war and brutality and begins to build a medical clinic where none had previously existed. Deo’s optimism, clarity, and insight into the American culture, in comparison with the horrors he experienced in Burundi, have led to what some critics have called Kidder’s finest work, “one of the truly stunning books…this year.” (adapted from Booklist, Amazon.com, the New York Times). Complimentary copies of the book will be sent to book group participants upon registration.

How Things Work at Harvard University
Presenter: Sue Shefte, Office of the Vice President for Administration

What is the Corporation and what does the Board of Overseers do? How is the endowment managed, and who decides how to spend it? How are budgets set? This program will unravel many of Harvard’s mysteries in an hour. Learn about the relationships between the schools, Central Administration and Mass Hall, about how big decisions are made, and about how Harvard’s finances work.

Going Green: A Fair Celebrating VPA’s Sustainable Programs

Did you know that Dining Services has a Food Literacy Project that promotes understanding food from the ground up? Have you noticed the wind turbines that Real Estate has installed above Holyoke Center? What about the organic landscaping ideas that UOS has been planting around campus? Join us for the first-ever VPA Green Fair and celebrate the sustainability efforts in our own departments and those promoted by the Office for Sustainability. The VPA Green Fair will feature informational tables, sustainability tips (for home and office), handouts, prizes – and locally grown food, prepared by HUDS’ outstanding culinary staff.