It was a very interesting time to be in Cambridge and to be teaching at Harvard given the incident with Professor Henry Louis Gates, whose home is located just a short walk from Harvard's Graduate School of Design (and, yes, I did see it, along with the various news crew vehicles that were still parked by it and down the street even as late as last Friday and Saturday). Every place that I ate at, the conversations at neighboring tables were about "the professor, the policeman, and the president."
Harvard Square is one of my favorite places and part of its charm is that it is such a magnet and one tends to recognize people there and to be recognized. After teaching on Friday, I had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Judith Vichniac there. Dr Vichniac is the head of the Fellows program at The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. Of course, we exchanged hugs since she played such a pivotal role in the success of my fellowship year at Radcliffe from 2005-2006.
Part of the draw of an extended stay in Cambridge, whether as a Fellow or as an Instructor, is the opportunity to explore Boston and I share with you some photos of Boston above and below taken yesterday.