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Spring Break in the Stacks

March 26, 2013 in Kemie's Blog by Kemie | 2 comments

This past week was Spring Break, and I ended up staying on campus to work on my junior essay for my History and Literature tutorial.  The junior essay is a 6,000 word (give or take) paper that every Hist and Lit student writes in the spring of their junior year, in preparation for the senior thesis.  To be clear, most concentrators don’t stay on campus to work on this essay, since the assignment spans the majority of the semester.  I just stuck around because I made a last-minute to write a new paper on a completely different topic, and I decided it was worth is to give up my break to focus all of my attention on my work.

Since I sacrificed sunshine for a better paper, and I ended up spending a lot of time in Widener Library working on my second paper.  My research often led me to the Widener Stacks, which are basically endless.

Some of the books are stored underground in Pusey Library, which is connected to Widener by an underground tunnel (you can see the tunnel in the diagram above).  A trip to Pusey is a rare occasion for me, and I couldn’t resist the urge to play around with the electronic book shelves while I was down there.

So this is basically how I spent my vacation: Pusey Stacks Clip

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The Art of Cooking (and Relaxing)

August 15, 2012 in Alumni Blogs by npadilla | 4 comments

How do we tell a chef from an amateur, a piece of culinary art from mere lowbrow attempts at home cooking? Is there any real difference at all, and if so, on what expertise does this distinction rest?

 

This is the basic question that my research fellowship with Harvard’s Schlesinger Library attempts to answer. As summer is slowly winding to a close, so too is one of my post-graduation summer endeavor. Many days in an overly air-conditioned library have finally brought together an illuminating bit of research on the topic of culinary aesthetic shift from the post-WWI period in the United States to the post-1975 period.

 

To give you a bit of insight, I thought I’d feature a few of the clippings from my research below—all photographed from the culinary magazine Gourmet through-out different time periods.

 

Taken from a 1952 copy of Gourmet, during what many describe as the time of high modernism, this advertisement elucidates the proliferation of mass production and appeal to authority typical of products under the period of Fordist modernity.

Compare this to the advertisement below from Gourmet in 1975, featuring instead an emphasis on small batch production and eclectic (or D-I-Y, do-it-yourself) style.

While I’ve traced a number of factors that played into this shift in culinary aesthetics of which only one example is shown above, one of the most telling is the distrust of totalizing views of cooking as art that was so prominent in the 1950’s of French-cooking traditionalism and extensive chef training leading to a distinction between the chef and the amateur. Chefs-as-artists became co-opted into materialism completely through advertisements (James Beard) and more easily through television cooking shows (Julia Child) with the advent of TV.

 

Of course, this is all just to give you a flavor of what my summer has looked like, and also to show some of the truly interesting research materials at one of Harvard’s libraries. On a less scholarly but no less important side, summer in Cambridge has proven to once again offer a wealth of opportunities of leisure time for any student (or post-grad) who happens to be around for these few months.

On Sundays Cambridge closes down a section of the street between the river and Harvard Square allowing of jogging, walking, or bike riding without the innumerable cars to push you off on a sidewalk. During the summer though, they have a new program called Sunday Parkland Games where everything from badminton to hula hoops, along with team games (potato-sack race) and free yoga classes from Karma Yoga Studio! It was so much fun, it felt like being a kid again during our elementary school relay games.

If anyone is in the area, this will be going on for the next two Sundays and strongly urge you to come check it out.

Besides that, Fridays have also become a time of routine as the workday from 3:30-5pm for The Harvard Community Garden. The Garden has grown beautifully with the addition of its annual crops, and has been a great place to take free yoga classes put on by Harvard student and my Yoga-Teaching-Training classmate Kelly, as well as to take classes on everything from tea making to pickling. Most Fridays they even have a movie at the garden at night.

As the month comes to a final close, I’ll make sure to check back in one more time for more updates on spending the summer in Cambridge.

 

~Natalie

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A Tale of Two “Mornings”: A Week in Review

February 17, 2012 in Alumni Blogs by npadilla | 4 comments

It’s the moment when you wake up and realize its still dark out that something is wrong—this happened twice in a one-day span. Don’t try this at home kids (unless you have it, but boy its rough), but when you have to wake up at 3am after a 2 hour nap to finish a paper due that morning, the next “nap” you take at 3pm may happen to turn into sleep (until 9pm). As a result, apologies for the late update.

 

Perhaps it was all the “I’ll finish it tomorrow” sentiments, but who could resist during this week of love and celebration. It began on Monday when my housemaster hosted his Open House—a great gathering in the master’s residence filled with friends, food, and fun including anything from costume parties on Halloween to pre-valentine card making as per this week. Even through the crowded residence my friends, after first greeting our housemaster, made a beeline for the Monkeybread.

 

And what is Moneybread you ask? If you have to ask, you have been missing out. The picture above describes it all, but this freshly made wonder from each Open House is basically a giant cinnamon roll. A Leverett House classic.

 

So there was that, and then there was Valentine’s Day, and a celebration with friends in the dorm. A ground meeting with the Food Literacy Project here, some planning for the Culinary Society Guacamole Festival (only weeks away!) there, and somehow its Thursday afternoon and work has just ended at 4pm. (At least there’s a delicious sandwich from Clover, my part-time job, involved).

 

In a sleepless daze that was the hours after I turned my paper in, I couldn’t help but be caught in awe as I admired the Harvard façade—yes, it was beautiful, but more it was quirky. The building for the departments represents each so well: the philosophy building—Emerson—with your large and clearly ancient armchairs, the Science Center in a shape of an—outdated—camera. And each with their own complimentary library filled the smell of old books—who doesn’t love that smell?

 

Needless to say, the paper turned out fine, and sleep is right around the corner. Have a good night!

 

~Natalie

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Top 10 Things To Do When Visiting Harvard as a Prospective Student

April 3, 2011 in Kate's Blog by Kate Meakem | Permalink

Hello, again!  First and foremost, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU WHO WERE ACCEPTED INTO THE HARVARD CLASS OF 2015!!!

I still remember all too clearly the moment I received “The Most Wonderful Email in the Entire World,” and it’s a moment that you should never take for granted, even if Harvard isn’t your #1 choice.  Take a moment, jump up and down, whoop and holler, and give yourself a giant pat on the back.

But now that you’re in, you might be thinking to yourself, “Golly, what do I do now?”  Well, I’ll tell you what you should do: COME VISIT HARVARD!!!!

With that in mind, I give you my promised post…

THE TOP 10 THINGS TO DO WHEN VISITING HARVARD AS A PROSPECTIVE STUDENT

1.)  Tour a dorm

If you can’t work it out that you can stay in a student dorm (you should always contact the Admissions Office before you visit so that they can make it possible), definitely ask to tour one.  If you have a friend, a friend of a friend, a friend of a parent’s friend who’s kid goes to Harvard, etc. DEFINTELY ask them if you can just take a peak into his/her room.  If you can stay in a student’s room, look at another room.  In total – check out as many rooms as possible, preferably freshman dorms.  How can you expect to imagine yourself going here, if you can’t even imagine where you might sleep?

2.)  Go to the Observatory

At the top of the Science Center there is a small observatory open to any Harvard student who has bothered to take a 45-minute instructional class.  Find one of these students and ask him/her to take you up.  It is honestly one of the coolest things on campus!  Even if it’s a cloudy night, there is a balcony with a BEAUTIFUL view of Harvard with the Boston skyline in the background.  As a freshman, this was definitely one of my biggest “Harvard moments” – where it finally sunk it that I attend this amazing school.

3.)  Widener Library Stacks

Ok, so when I suggest this, people often look at my funny.  Most students will tell you that the Widener Library stacks are creepy, only because they are SO VAST, and it’s easy to feel like you might venture forth, lose your way, and die without anyone ever finding you.  But as a pre-frosh, my friends and I had the BEST time running around, making the automatic lights switch on and off, and trying to find the oldest book.  It amazed all of us that Harvard would entrust its students with such valuable, old books and that it had so many of them!  Going into Widener opened my eyes to the incredible opportunities that Harvard offered, and made me realize that as a prospective student, I could take full advantage of them.

4.)  Annenberg Dining Hall

As the second-largest collection of secular stained glass in the world, Annenberg Dining Hall provides a very “Great Hall of Hogwarts” feel to freshman dining… not to mention that it is gorgeous.  The food might not be the best on campus (though I will admit that by and large I think it is delicious), but the experience cannot be matched.

5.)  Adams basement tunnels

Adams House is the closest upperclassman house to the Yard.  While the housing lottery is now completely random, it was not always that way, and as a result, Adams has a history of having once been the “artsy house.”  This means that the tunnels under the house (yes, there are tunnels under all of the houses), are decorated with really awesome artwork that students have painted over the years!  It is really cool and fun to check out!

6.)  Eleganza (if you’re here over Visitas Weekend)

I like to tell people that Eleganza convinced me to go to Harvard.  As a prefrosh, I was really worried that Harvard students would be ALL work, and no play.  I am a social person, and the idea of attending a school where everyone sat behind a textbook all the time repulsed me.  Eleganza turned all of my preconceptions upside-down.  It is an AWESOME fashion/dance show that will feature just how much fun Harvard students can have.  GO!

7.)  Go to a few classes

Drag yourself to a class or two on a topic that interests you.  Don’t just go off the list the Admissions Office gives you – ask current students what their favorite classes are.  Do it, and then don’t base your decision off of it.  I know that sounds like silly advice, because you are, after all, going to school to go to class.  In my experience, however, when you’re a second-semester senior, and you’ve just been accepted into one of the best colleges in the world, its hard to focus and not feel bored in a college class.  If you happen to find the class fascinating, that is awesome.  But if you don’t, don’t freak out.

8.)  If the weather is nice, sit under a tree in the Yard, pat yourself on the back for getting in, and picture yourself there.

Seriously, just take some time off from running around, being super excited, and meeting new people.  Sit down, and ABSORB.  Watch current students walking around (I know that sounds creepy), and watch for how people get along.  See a group of students laughing at some joke, or another group cramming for some midterm and try to picture yourself as one of them.

9.)  Eat a ve-ri-taffle

These are the waffles they serve on Sunday morning brunches at Harvard, and they have the VE- RI- TAS emblem on them.  How much more Harvard can you get?

10.)  Talk to a student about social life

If you know that there is a group of people that you generally hang out with, look up that group and spend time with them.  Whether you are really into religion or politics or science or cultural groups or Greek life or you want to check out what the big deal about Final Clubs is, find out what is going on on campus (there are ALWAYS things going on) and check it out.  Your social life at Harvard (even if you’re not the type of person who likes to “go out”) will be an important part of your time at Harvard.  You owe it to yourself to take a look.

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Beware the LAMONSTERS!

December 13, 2010 in Kate's Blog by Kate Meakem | 1 comment

Finals time has arrived, and this being Harvard, EVERYONE is hitting the books.  Luckily, Harvard has anticipated our crazed desire to study 24 hrs/7days a week and has scheduled a ten day Reading Period in which classes are canceled, meals are plentiful, and the campus is abuzz with chapter reviews.

It is during this time of year that the colloquial term “Lamonster” takes on added meaning.  Lamont is the College’s 24-hour library used by undergraduates looking to overdose on work.  It provides every work environment imaginable.

On the first floor, you will find a café operational until 2 a.m. where students can purchase sandwiches, cappuccinos, pastries, and sushi, or can grab any assortment of snacks from the vending machines.  The Café is a social work area where students are welcome to talk about work, complain about work, or chit-chat about everything BUT work, while sitting in lounge chairs and throwing their feet up.

Because pictures are not allowed in Lamont during Reading Period, here is a picture I grabbed off of Google Images. This is the Lamont Cafe, but imagine it packed to the brim with students.

Need to get some real work done?  No problem, just head back a little further on the first floor to the quiet study section, where you will find an open workspace filled with more lounge chairs and cubicles.  There you can still feel part of the world as you shoot silent glances across the room to your roommate or watch your friend from Life Sci receive your Facebook chat asking about the third question on the problem set.

But find even that much interaction too distracting to be productive?  Try the second floor where there are desks set up among the stacks or the third floor where there is another quiet study room with more cubicles and fewer lounge chairs.

Ahhh!  You just got a text from your Spanish partner reminding you that you need to finish up that group project tonight, and Lamont Café is too full!  Not a problem, there is a large group-study space in the basement with plenty of large desks to spread your stuff out, and swivel chairs.

Right now, you might be thinking, “Gee… Lamont Library really has everything a person might need… food, comfortable chairs for naps, study space, books, computers, friends to talk to, and it NEVER closes.”  And you would be right.  Thus, the Lamonster.  The Lamonster is the terrifying creature within us all that lurks the bookshelves late into the night and doesn’t ever leave.  The Lamonster eats, sleeps, and works all in the same building, only glimpsing the sun through the windows and only venturing outdoors to go to class.  The Lamonster is very, very real.  And no time is more conducive to Lamonster behavior than Reading Period.

As I sit in one of Lamont’s first-floor lounge chairs, I can hear the pitter-patter of fingers on keyboards, the scratch of pages being turned, and the faint tin of various types of music blasting through earphones.  I have not become a Lamonster today.  Soon I will pack up my studying and head home to Pennypacker.  But last week was a different story.

I have a very strange exam schedule.  I had my two-part Spanish exam last week during Reading Period (I know, I thought this strange too) and my 15-page final paper in Celtic History due last Friday.  While this was a completely manageable amount of work, I spent quite a few hours in Lamont.  Because I am easily distracted and find that I cannot help but talk to every single person I recognize when work is the other option, I worked on the third floor… for a looooooonnnnngg time.  As I am not guaranteed that my teachers (or my mom) will not read this, I will not tell you just HOW late I was up the night before my Celtic paper was due, but let’s just say, that it was very, very late… or should I say early?

But even I have to admit, it’s kind of cool to have a place to go when you’re uber-stressed about a test, a paper, a presentation, and find a community of equally hard-working students!  It can be depressing to see the light of the early morn in you room by yourself after a night of work, but in Lamont, you are always guaranteed to have company.  I should also note here that not everyone at Harvard becomes a Lamonster.  If you have even half-decent time management skills and place even a little value on sleep, you will be a perfectly healthy and happy student with good study habits.  But if you happen to be like me and have no ability to manage time and a propensity to put assignments off, just know, you will never be alone in Lamont!

UPDATE:  Upon seeing this blog post, my roommate referred me to this new website called Sleeping in Lamont, which I find to be HILARIOUS and very relevant.  Enjoy!

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