Contributing writer
Manuel A. Yepes
Latest Content
Social Studies and Embracing Uncertainty
Find motivation in the process itself. Retain hope in the possibility that, even if you as an individual may never write an essay you’re fully content with, your role within a larger context is a productive one. Ask questions, embrace uncertainty, and continue the struggle.
The Trouble With Writing — At the College and Beyond
Through this column, I wanted to peel back that tour-esque veneer and reveal the intangible culture of each postgraduate school at Harvard. Yet when I sat down to write each piece, I couldn’t help but feel lost. Somehow, my quotes, pictures, and notes had the audacity to remain meaningless and unconnected, instead of autonomously organizing themselves into some easily digestible narrative that I could then transpose onto my document.
What Harvard College Can Learn From Longwood
If the College wants to fulfill its mission of providing an intellectually transformative experience beyond narrow professional learning, it cannot be afraid to completely reform its curriculum á la HMS. The “cornerstone” of the Harvard College curriculum (as the General Education program is officially presented) must truly encourage students to think critically and engage with the material.
HBS and ‘Toxic Networking’
In my conversations with HBS students, I got the sense that the school operates more as an effective party host than as a teacher. You might read that with disdain. Yet I came away thinking that HBS has crucial lessons to offer on how we might deal with the networking culture present at our own college.
Housing Day Midterms and the Culture of Non-Fun
Housing Day is a venerated tradition — and one that entails a really fun morning. That won’t be the case for two of us this year, as we’ll be in class, taking midterm exams at 10:30 a.m. At Harvard, with its near-constant slog, why must we sit for exams on one of the singularly most fun days of the year?
HLS and the Commercialization of Success
This is where I see the link between HLS and Divercity, the Colombian theme park. When I put out a fake fire, there wasn’t any real value in what I was doing. Similarly, it seems to me that the academic intensity of HLS, both through classes and organizations like the Harvard Law Review, has minimal value in and of itself. Instead, its value comes partly from the fact that corporate law firms have implicitly endorsed the rules of the game.
Ask What You Can Do (and Put it into Practice)
But those who criticize HKS for lacking academic rigor miss the point. HKS classes aren’t trying to be academic in a conventional sense of the word. Instead, they’re focused on teaching skills.
The News Isn’t Objective — and It Shouldn’t Be
Journalism can retain its mission of creating informed, active members of society without attempting to be objective in the strictly-defined present sense.
Hispanics Don’t Exist
I am Hispanic, but before that, I am an individual, who, like many, has a story that cannot be generalized into one overarching identity. As Hispanic Heritage Month begins, I urge you to listen to the stories — in the Crimson’s pages and beyond — that define each of us. Reading them, you’ll see the differences that, paradoxically, are what make us all Hispanic.
We’re All Going to Die
This isn’t an optimistic op-ed about how if we all sober up, we can band together to solve the climate crisis. This isn’t even a deceivingly cynical op-ed meant to be proven wrong by do-gooders. This is, instead, a simple exposition of my personal opinion: that Harvard’s inability to recognize the gravity of the situation at hand only confirms Camus’ view of humanity’s disbelief in death.