Christy DeSmith

Boston

Freelance Writer and Editor at Freelance

Writer, editor, journalist, runner, reader, mom. First-gen college grad. Current: @Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Former: @BostonGlobe and @StarTribune.

Articles

Social media fueled divisions. Teaming up may help heal. — Harvard Gazette

5 days ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

6 min read Algorithm-driven digital feeds have deepened the split between red and blue America. But a new online tool may help bring the country back together. The virtual quiz game Tango, developed at Harvard, pairs Democrats and Republicans on common teams, where bipartisanship quickly emerges as a competitive advantage. “It’s really the opposite of the nasty, divisive posting you find on social media,” offered Tango co-creator Joshua D.
Deep in Amazon, politicians resist gold miners — and inspire thesis — Harvard Gazette

1 week ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

6 min read A collection of features and profiles covering Harvard University’s 374th Commencement. Reaching the tiny settlement, located deep within the Amazon rainforest, required several hours of travel by river boat.
Marine vet’s future was a puzzle. Then he found archaeology. — Harvard Gazette

2 weeks ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

6 min read A collection of features and profiles covering Harvard University’s 374th Commencement. The professor’s office was wallpapered with declassified U.S. intelligence photos. “I walked in and the first thing I saw were these floor-to-ceiling printouts of U2 and CORONA aerial imagery,” recalled Shane Rice ’25.
Era of U.S. dollar may be winding down— Harvard Gazette

1 month ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

Work & Economy 8 min read It looks like the end of an era for the U.S. dollar. In his new book “Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead,” Kenneth Rogoff looks back on the currency’s dominant run in global trade and central bank reserves for a host of other countries.
Lifelong fascination with German culture guided grad — Harvard Gazette

1 month ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

6 min read A collection of features and profiles covering Harvard University’s 374th Commencement. Addie Esposito ’25 grew up with stories about life in Germany. “My mom was there for two years just after the Berlin Wall fell,” Esposito said.
Medical anthropology pioneer Arthur Kleinman to retire- Harvard Gazette

1 month ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

4 min read A long career bridging medicine, social science, and the humanities has left Arthur Kleinman with one critical insight. “Care, critically understood and practiced, matters most,” he told a packed lecture hall last week.
When foreign governments took aim at universities — Harvard Gazette

1 month ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

Nation & World 6 min read Recent government demands on U.S. universities have some scholars searching for the right historical analogue for insights. “I’ve been thinking about this budding conflict between the state and universities as possibly a replay of the 1950s” and the McCarthy era, said William C.
Slave trade database moving to Harvard

1 month ago | phys.org | Christy DeSmith

SlaveVoyages, a tool for data on history's largest slave trades, is getting a new home. Word of the project's upcoming move was shared recently by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.
SlaveVoyages finds new home at Harvard — Harvard Gazette

1 month ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

4 min read SlaveVoyages, a groundbreaking tool for data on history’s largest slave trades, is getting a new home. Word of the project’s upcoming move was shared recently by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.
Slave trade database moving to Harvard — Harvard Gazette

1 month ago | news.harvard.edu | Christy DeSmith

4 min read SlaveVoyages, a groundbreaking tool for data on history’s largest slave trades, is getting a new home. Word of the project’s upcoming move was shared recently by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.