STUDENTS

Journal Tackles HIV/AIDS

Geralyn Richard MPP 2005, editor in chief of the Kennedy School’s Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, and her staff of about 25 other students knew they wanted to cover HIV/AIDS in the next issue, especially after the topic was barely discussed in the past election.

“When I think of how little attention the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS in African American communities receives, it often conjures the line Ralph Ellison penned in his classic Invisible Man: ‘I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me,’” she says. “While the alarmingly ill-informed and tragic responses of both vice presidential candidates solidified the poignancy of this statement, their lack of information only strengthened our resolve to bring this topic to the forefront.

“Unfortunately, many in the United States choose to examine this issue through the very narrow lens of health care and rarely consider the ways in which this epidemic is sweeping through black communities,” she says. “We want to broaden the scope to reveal how its complexities extend to various policy arenas.”

For details, contact the Journal at hjapp@ksg.harvard.edu.

Highlights from upcoming issues of the school’s other student journals:

The Asian American Policy Review will feature interviews with leading scholars. The Kennedy School Review will now include interviews with leading policymakers. The Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy will reflect on the influence of Latinos in the United States. Contact christine_connare@ksg.harvard.edu for details.