Tag: Harvard University

  • Pro-Palestinian students, protest groups suppressed in American schools, universities

    Three separate cases of suppression of pro-Palestinian students and groups have been reported in America in just one day as voices are raised higher against the genocide of Gaza. Israeli tanks have forced citizens of Northern Gaza to walk countless miles towards the South with their hands in the air, a scene that has been described as “The Second Nakba”.

    Columbia University announced that they are suspending pro-Palestine groups ‘Jewish Voice For Peace’ and ‘Students For Justice In Palestine’- both comprised majorly of Jewish students- who called for a ceasefire.

    Columnist and writer Fatima Bhutto, a Columbia alum, slammed the decision.

    Columbia University is the institute where famous academic Edward Said taught, who dedicated his life to bringing the occupation of Palestine to light.

    The current president of Columbia University, Egyptian-American economist Nemat Talaat Shafik, is drawing outrage from social media users.

    At Harvard University, a black student was evicted from campus housing for acting as a student safety marshal during the protests.

    Previously, pro-Palestinian supporters at Harvard were doxxed after an open letter by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee condemned the genocide of Gaza.

    In California, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was suspended for three days by Corona Del Mar School for responding ‘Free Palestine’ to racists who were bullying him. The school notice was shared on social media by journalist Amina Waheed, who said that the school admin told the boy’s aunt saying ‘Free Palestine’ was akin to calling for the death of all Jews.

    The action against students takes place while several documented cases of Islamophobia, racism towards Palestinians have come to light. On October 17, a Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death by his neighbour. On October 30, Pakistani-American doctor Talat Jehan Khan was stabbed out side her apartment complex in Texas.

    Social media users showed outrage at Corona del Mar High School and the racism shown towards Palestinian children.

  • College students from 100 American universities walkout to protest for Gaza ceasefire

    University campuses across the USA staged walkouts on Wednesday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, as the death toll climbs to almost 6000 civilians. According to Teen Vogue, the walkout was organised by a number of groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement; Dissenters, an anti-war youth movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine and several others.

    Zoe DeMarcado, a student from Xavier University in Louisiana, said the walk-out was staged to bring attention to calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes have targeted bakeries, schools and mosques sheltering civilians. “The goal of our walkout and moment of silence is to disrupt the day-to-day complicity on American college campuses across the US,” she said. “We can’t stay silent about this.”

    Islamophobic hate crimes are on the rise in the US after six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed by his neighbour in Chicago on October 16. On 23 October, another 20-year-old Palestinian American was hospitalised after a hit-and-run in Cleaveland.

    More student activists are joining in on the call for a ceasefire and hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyu accountable for being a war criminal. A week ago, climate change activist Greta Thunberg expressed solidarity towards Palestine in an Instagram post, calling for a ceasefire. Several students from Harvard University were doxed by a conservative group, after they wrote an open letter calling out Israel over the genocide of Palestinians.

    Currently the Wednesday walk-out in support for Palestine is the first nationally coordinated student movement of this scale, with students from campuses like NYU, Yale and Duke demanding for an end to Israel’s siege on Palestine, ban on weapons sales to Israel and for an end to university investment in the Palestinian genocide.

  • Asian-American Harvard student comes up with hilarious way to raise money for students lab

    Asian-American Harvard student comes up with hilarious way to raise money for students lab

    An Asian American student of the Harvard University, Benjamin Chang, is going viral on social media after he came up with a hilarious way to raise money for the student-led bio-engineering lab: by rowing in a pumpkin.

    Chang, who is a senior at Harvard, took help from his friends to purchase a 1500 pound pumpkin, then spent two hours carving it using basic tools like knife and a shovel.

    “There’s been so many roadblocks that have happened, and to actually be in the water in a giant pumpkin was so much fun,” Chang revealed to abc7 Chicago.

    Chang paddled in the giant pumpkin from the Cambridge side of the river to the Boston side and back. A dozen people donated to the lab in order to get a chance to row in a pumpkin, raising hundreds of dollars for the lab.

    “It was also so much fun to let other people try this as well,” Chang responded to the viral videos. “Seeing how excited and how strange of a feeling it was for other people to be inside this pumpkin was just as fun for me as being in it myself.”

    Check out this hilarious TikTok made by WBZ News Radio on how Chang accomplished his dream to make a pumpkin

    @wbznewsradio It’s the great pumpkin, Charles River. #Boston #Massachusetts #NewEngland #HarvardUniversity #HarvardSquare #massachusettsinstituteoftechnology #CambridgeMA #AllstonMA #BrightonMA #CharlesRiver #WatertownMA #BostonUniversity #EmersonCollege #BostonCheck #BostonTikTok ♬ original sound – WBZ NewsRadio

  • AI instructors to teach Harvard students next year

    AI instructors to teach Harvard students next year

    Harvard University, one of America’s most prestigious and expensive colleges, is planning to introduce an AI-powered teaching assistant to instruct students in its popular introductory coding course.

    Professor David Malan, who oversees the course, explained that the use of AI in the syllabus aligns with the course’s history of incorporating new software. He stated that the introduction of a ChatGPT AI teacher is a natural progression in their teaching methods. The aim is to eventually provide students in the CS50 course with software-based tools that can support their learning individually, ensuring a 1:1 teacher-to-student ratio.

    Professor Malan mentioned that they are currently experimenting with both GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models, as reported by Harvard’s newspaper, the Crimson. However, developers and software engineers outside the Ivy League have encountered difficulties integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 into their workflows.

    Some have raised concerns about the algorithmic co-worker’s coding abilities, perceiving a decline in quality compared to earlier versions. The AI’s software skills have been described as inferior, exhibiting superficial responses and inadequate coding prompt answers.

    Considering the significant cost of a four-year degree from Harvard, estimated at around $334,000 for the 2022-23 academic year, students who are paying for their education will likely expect the CS50 staff’s experimentation with ChatGPT to be thoroughly refined by September.

    CS50 is highly regarded and widely accessed through Harvard’s online learning platform, edX, which was established in partnership with MIT in 2012. The universities sold edX to educational technology company 2U for $800 million in 2021, ensuring its operation as a public benefit entity that offers courses for free auditing.

    Professor Malan acknowledged that early iterations of AI programs like ChatGPT may occasionally underperform, but expressed his confidence in the AI teaching assistant’s ability to streamline tasks and reduce the time spent on assessing students’ code. This, in turn, would allow teaching fellows to focus on more meaningful, interpersonal interactions with their students, resembling an apprenticeship model.

    Reflecting on the purpose of education, Professor Malan emphasised the importance of critical thinking for students, urging them to exercise discernment when processing information, regardless of its source.

    In summary, Harvard University intends to leverage AI technology by introducing a ChatGPT-powered teaching assistant in its CS50 course. While challenges have been encountered with the latest ChatGPT-4 model, Professor Malan and his team are committed to refining the AI’s performance.

    The goal is to enhance the learning experience for students and enable teaching fellows to allocate their time more effectively, fostering meaningful interactions. This development aligns with Harvard’s commitment to providing quality education through its online learning platform, edX, which remains accessible to a wide audience.

  • Yeh kya ho raha hay? Babar, Rizwan back in university

    Yeh kya ho raha hay? Babar, Rizwan back in university

    Pakistan cricket team skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batsman Muhammad Rizwan went back into university life as the batting duo joined the prestigious Harvard Business School’s executive education programme on the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports (BEMS), becoming the first two cricketers to join the prestigious school.

    Babar Azam on Monday night shared a picture on his Twitter account, reminding every student of hostel life, where everyone is tense and worried and studying hard just one night before an exam.

    Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan are the number two and three ranked batsman in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings. Twitter reacted hilariously when the superstars shared a picture of them studying in a room.

    It is a proud moment for Pakistan as the two stars become the first ever cricketers to take part in this business course.
    In the press release issued by the management company of the two players, -Saya Corporation- it is said that the program taught at Harvard Business School in Boston will continue from May 31 to June 3. After which both will hold meetings with various communities in America till June 13.

    Details of Harvard Business Programme

    Programme details have been shared on the school’s website, where they have stated that the programme in which Babar and Rizwan are placed is called the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports (BEMS). It is structured with new modules and techniques on how to develop new business, why some startups becomes successful and why some fail.

    It states that the need for digital technology is most felt in the entertainment industry today and the course discusses the latest approaches in this regard.

    This course will teach you how to make the best decisions, how to take advantage of market fluctuations and how to achieve long-lasting profits.

    Course fees stated on the website is $10,500 but it is not clear yet who is paying the fee of the two star players.

  • A new visa scheme allows graduates from world’s top universities to come to UK

    A new visa scheme allows graduates from world’s top universities to come to UK

    Under a new visa scheme, graduates from the world’s finest universities will be able to apply to come to the United Kingdom. The “high-potential individual” path, as per the government, will attract the “brightest and greatest” early in their careers.

    According to BBC, alumni of major non-UK universities who graduated within the last five years will be eligible for the scheme. Graduates will be eligible regardless of where they were born, and they will not be required to apply if they have a job offer.

    If you have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, you will be awarded a two-year work visa, and if you have a Ph.D., you will be given a three-year work visa. If they achieve certain standards, they will be eligible to switch to other long-term employment visas.

    There will be no limit on the number of graduates that are eligible.

    A person must have graduated from a university that was ranked in the top 50 of at least two of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, or The Academic Ranking of World Universities in the year they graduated to be eligible.

    The government produced an online list of qualified colleges for 2021 that included 20 US universities, including Harvard, Yale, and MIT.

    The University of Hong Kong, the University of Melbourne, and the Paris Sciences et Lettres University were among the other 17 qualified universities.

    Some scholars, on the other side, have expressed displeasure that no universities from South Asia, Latin America, or Africa have been featured on the list.

    It’s a deeply inequitable method, according to Christopher Trisos, director and senior researcher at the University of Cape Town.

    “They need to be recognised and including varied skills and in-depth knowledge held by many graduates from institutions in developing nations,” he said, if the UK wants to play a part in addressing the century’s big challenges, such as energy access, climate change, and pandemics.

    The visa will cost £715 plus an immigration health premium, which permits migrants to use the NHS in the United Kingdom.

    Graduates will be able to bring their families, but they must have a minimum of £1,270 in maintenance funds. They must also pass a security and criminality check and have at least a B1 intermediate level of English proficiency, which is characterised as having the “fluency to communicate with native speakers without effort.”

    Changes to the plan allow international students studying in the UK to stay and work for up to two years.

    The student visa scheme, which was reintroduced two years ago, overturned a 2012 decision by then-Home Secretary Theresa May, which required international students to leave four months after completing their degree.

    The combination of university lists used by the Home Office “provides independent validation for institutions and opens up the option for new foreign universities to progress up the ranks and join this list in the future,” according to a spokesman for the department.

    They went on to say that each of the qualified universities attracts students from all over the world, and that there are “many alternative paths eligible for graduates from other universities, including the Graduate, Skilled Worker, and Global Talent routes” for graduates from other universities.

    “The approach implies that the UK will grow as a major international hub for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship,” stated Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

    Via: BBC

  • Harvard University congratulates Ayesha Malik for becoming first female Supreme Court judge

    Harvard University has congratulated its alumnus, Ayesha Malik who is the first woman appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 75 years of its history.

    She has studied law and earned a degree of LL.M ( Master of Laws) in 1999 from Harvard Law School where she was named a Landon H. Gammon Fellow for academic excellence. Harvard Alumni Association also published an article on her achievement on its website.

    “Congratulations to @Harvard_Law alum Ayesha Malik LLM’99, who was appointed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan! She is the first woman to serve as a justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court in the country’s 75-year history,” Harvard Alumni Association tweeted on March 27.

    Justice Ayesha Malik took oath as the Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on January 24, 2022. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed administered the oath.