Harvard Kennedy School

May 30, 2024
Ideas from Harvard Kennedy School

Ambassador Nicholas Burns speaking at a podium delivering the 2024 HKS Graduation Address.

Nicholas Burns, U.S. ambassador to China and a former HKS professor, urged graduates to “change the world for the better.” (Photo: Kayana Szymczak)

PUBLIC LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

Ambassador Nicholas Burns tells HKS graduates: “The world needs your help”

Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador to China and a former Kennedy School professor, told HKS graduates that the world needs change, and that it needs their help to make it happen. “Change the world, change it for the better,” Burns told the graduates and their guests last Wednesday. “Make it more humane, make it more just, make it more prosperous, make it more peaceful.” The Class of 2024 comprised 659 students from 35 U.S. states and 87 countries, one of the most cosmopolitan classes in the School’s history. He also urged the students to reach across differences with understanding and humility to find common ground, even on difficult issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict. The student degrees were conferred on Thursday during the university-wide Commencement exercises in Harvard Yard.

WHAT WE'RE LEARNING

Assistant Professor Michela Carlana’s new research on how parents play a role in leading boys and girls down different paths of study

Greyscale backpack in the center of image with two gender symbols in red and blue circles on either side of it. The graphics are placed on a distressed green backdrop.

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY

The populism of self-destruction: How better policy can blunt the anti-clean energy backlash

HKS Professor Robert Z. Lawrence and Harvard Professor Dustin Tingley say better economic policies can boost clean energy projects in communities that oppose or are wary of them. On the most recent episode of HKS PolicyCast, the professors say even though clean energy measures are vital to preventing the most catastrophic consequences of the human-caused global climate crisis, they are encountering pushback from multiple sources, ranging from local citizens groups to fossil-fuel-dependent states and regions to right-wing politicians to corporate boardrooms. With time running out for the world to make significant reductions in fossil fuel use, they join PolicyCast host Ralph Ranalli to discuss strategies and policy ideas to keep the momentum going toward a sustainable energy future.

WHAT WE'RE READING

The Harvard Center for International Development takes a front row seat at the United Nations

UN Building among a bright blue sky with various country flags visible in front.

FAIRNESS & JUSTICE

Debating diversity policies, academic freedom, and free speech

Professors Danielle Allen, Arthur Applbaum MPP 1982 PhD 1988, and Khalil Gibran Muhammad recently addressed the relationship of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) to academic freedom. They also put the spotlight on difficult conversations dealing with racial justice in education—including on the Harvard campus—and provided historic context, defined usage, and offered real-life examples of DEIB principles in action. Sarah Wald, senior policy advisor, chief of staff, and adjunct lecturer in public policy, moderated the discussion, which was the final HKS Dean’s Discussion of the semester.

WHAT WE'RE READING

Professor Justin de Benedictis-Kessner on how opioid treatment centers can overcome bipartisan NIMBYism to build local support

EDUCATION, TRAINING & LABOR

Researchers find that California’s tough labor laws aren’t protecting the majority of hourly workers

A new report by the Shift Project has found that California’s new strict labor laws are routinely broken and that there is a large under-reporting gap by workers who experience violations. California’s labor laws are some of the country’s toughest, offering hourly workers in the state high minimum wages, strict overtime protections, paid sick leave, and more. But researchers found that more than nine out of 10 of the hourly workers they surveyed experienced at least one labor violation and about two in five workers experienced a loss of earned income or were blocked from accessing paid sick leave. “These workers have been robbed, of their time and of their wages, but the vast majority do not come forward,” said Professor Daniel Schneider, the co-director of the Shift Project, which is based at HKS and the University of California-San Francisco. The researchers said their findings suggest that workers need more accessible ways to come forward without fear of retaliation.

IN THE NEWS

•

Remembering Memorial Day: We must avoid World War III [Graham Allison] The National Interest

•

Helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi crashes prompting massive search[Juliette Kayyem] CNN

•

Janet Yellen warns higher outlook for rates will make it harder to keep deficits and debt expenses under control [Jason Furman] Fortune

•

Biden pledged to “end this uncivil war.” Nearly 4 years later, it still rages on. [Pippa Norris] NBC News

•

“Vote in the streets?” Vietnam War protesters reassess strategy more than 50 years later [Harvard Kennedy School] USA Today

•

U.S. ambassador to China says democracy ‘under assault’ by authoritarian countries [Harvard Kennedy School, Douglas Elmendorf] South China Morning Post

•

$500 per month in Cambridge — no strings attached. Guaranteed basic income helps working-class families, a study shows. [Harvard Kennedy School] Boston Globe

May 30, 2024 Ideas from Harvard Kennedy School

PUBLIC LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

Ambassador Nicholas Burns tells HKS graduates: “The world needs your help”

WHAT WE'RE LEARNING

Assistant Professor Michela Carlana’s new research on how parents play a role in leading boys and girls down different paths of study

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY

The populism of self-destruction: How better policy can blunt the anti-clean energy backlash

WHAT WE'RE READING

The Harvard Center for International Development takes a front row seat at the United Nations

FAIRNESS & JUSTICE

Debating diversity policies, academic freedom, and free speech

WHAT WE'RE READING

Professor Justin de Benedictis-Kessner on how opioid treatment centers can overcome bipartisan NIMBYism to build local support

EDUCATION, TRAINING & LABOR

Researchers find that California’s tough labor laws aren’t protecting the majority of hourly workers

IN THE NEWS

May 30, 2024
Ideas from Harvard Kennedy School