On November 6^th the basement of Northwest Labs was bustling with a crowd of student performers eager to participate in the second annual Chinese Poetry Recitation Competition. The contest, organized by the Chinese Language Program within Harvard’s Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, brought together students from basic, intermediate, and advanced courses to engage with traditional and contemporary verse. This year’s competition featured a dazzling display of PowerPoint slides complete with musical accompaniment introducing categories and poems. As...