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Exploring a World of Human Experience

Dean Christopher Queen

In a pendulum swing from the inward focus of its quarterly meetings last year, which considered personal finance, career development, love and romance, and health and wellness, the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) set out in 1997-98 to explore a wider world of human experience: the human costs of climate change, homelessness in an affluent society, 17,000 years of Western art history, and the changing skyline of Boston's Back Bay and waterfront. The HEAA continued to enjoy record turnouts and good fellowship as new and returning graduates convened in the Grossman Common Room, at the Harvard Faculty Club, and on the polished decks of the Charles Riverboat Company's largest cruise vessel.

His Excellency Phillip Muller, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Republic of the Marshall Islands, spoke to alumni about global warming.

Alumni who attended the lecture "Boston Submerged? Global Warming in the Twenty-First Century" in October were in for a surprise. The evening began with a cautionary tale told by a visitor who happened to see the program in the University calendar. His Excellency Phillip Muller, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Republic of the Marshall Islands, begged the audience's indulgence as he described the inundation of major coastal sections of his country as melting polar ice caps, glaciers, and permafrost elsewhere on the planet brought ever higher seas to the islands. Following this unscheduled dose of reality, the program continued with remarks by Dr. Timothy C. Weiskel, Director of the Harvard Seminar on Environmental Values at the Harvard Divinity School, and Dr. Peter Buck, Senior Lecturer on the History of Science and Dean of Harvard Summer School. Dr. Weiskel lent credibility to widespread fears of environmental disruption related to weather patterns like El Niño (the periodic warming of the south Pacific), human technologies, and "the greenhouse effect." Playing the contrarian, historian Dr. Buck reminded a rapt audience that famous predictions of "gloom and doom" in the past have seldom panned out. Economist W. Stanley Jevon's 1865 prediction of Britain's imminent collapse as coal supplies ran out, for example, seems absurd today. In the lively discussion that followed, Extension alumni expressed concern for the Marshall Islanders' plight and called for greater attention by scientists and the international community.

December's panel asked "Who Needs the Spare Change?" by exploring social and economic dimensions of poverty and homelessness in an age of affluence. Participants included Linda Larson, editor of SpareChange: New England's Journal of the Streets, Richard B. Freeman, Ascherman Professor of Economics at Harvard, and Phillip Martin, a 1997-98 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, and former writer and producer on public policy issues for the BBC, WGBH, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and Japan Times Weekly. Ms. Larson described her experience as a formerly homeless person with medical disabilities and her current advocacy for the homeless as writer and editor-in-chief of SpareChange. Prof. Freeman spelled out many consequences of a global economy that rewards competitiveness and competency while ignoring or blaming those who do not have these characteristics. Mr. Martin analyzed the role of the news media in perpetuating stereotypes of race and class in their portrayal of poverty and inequality in America.

Since the 1995-96 academic year, the HEAA has held its winter meeting in the Harvard Faculty Club on Valentine's Day with the tradition of a Lucullan meal and an Apollonian encounter with the arts--an evening of love poetry read by the inimitable Dr. Sue Schopf. This year the program committee despaired to find a sequel. Providentially, Dr. Joseph Aurelio, ALB '83, ALM '85, a docent at Harvard's Fogg Museum, stepped forth to offer a luminous tour of Western art from the painted animals of the Lascaux Caves (c. 15,000 BCE) to the work of Christo, who recently wrapped fabric around one million square feet of Australian caves. The supper and slides were so popular that an extra dining room had to be opened to seat the overflow.

Another new HEAA tradition was launched in this year's sunset cruise of the Charles River and Boston Harbor, narrated by Professor Thomas O'Connor, the Extension School's favorite historian of Boston. Sailing on the first Friday in May, the vessel embarked from the dock at the Cambridgeside Galleria, made its way up to the bend in the river beyond the Harvard boathouses, then returned to navigate the channels and locks near the Science Museum and sailed into Boston Harbor as sparkling city lights began to overtake the dying rays of day. Onboard, 80 alumni dined on barbecue and learned the rich history of New England's most famous port city.

On June 4, the HEAA gathered for its annual Alumni Banquet at "Dean Shinagel's House," as president Kelly Landolphi put it. The evening began with cocktails and conversation on the rooftop gardens of the Quincy House Masters' Residence, home to co-Masters Michael Shinagel and Marjorie North. Seasoned alumni were joined by expectant candidates who would receive Extension degrees and certificates two days later at Harvard's Commencement ceremonies. After dinner, the HEAA heard addresses by 25-year-honorand Professor Ivan Galantic and by retiring Dean John Adams. Development co-chairs Richard Reidy, ALM '94, and Larry Sheehan, ALM '94, announced the capstone fundraiser for the 1990s, to honor Dean Michael Shinagel in his 25th year of service with a scholarship fund of $250,000. This fund drive will bring to completion the $1 million Capital Campaign announced in 1988 to establish a wide range of scholarship opportunities for deserving Harvard Extension School students.

On board the Charles Riverboat Cruise were Sylvia Miller, AA '73, Grace Shreibner, ALB '90, and Jim Shreibner.

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