Social Sciences

Explore faculty and student work in economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, and other disciplines shaping our understanding of society.

A bronze sculpture of intertwined hands in a park, with a discussion panel in the foreground.

Is the Constitution Broken?

Harvard legal scholars debate the state of our founding national document.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Design rendering of East Side Coastal Resiliency Project in New York City

Can Infrastructure Remedy Social Ills?

A Design School class suggests how “social infrastructure” can meet societal needs.

by Nancy Walecki

Ibrahim Barry with a basketball on a court

“No Going Back to Normal”

Addressing the complexities of children’s mental health

by Jacob Sweet

David Reich standing in his Harvard Medical School laboratory

Telling Humanity’s Story through DNA

Geneticist David Reich rewrites the ancient human past.

by Jonathan Shaw

Illustration of a city downwind from a fracking well

Fracking’s Deadly Toll

Harvard researchers find that fracking shortens the lives of elderly Americans living downwind of unconventional oil and gas wells.

by Daniel Oberhaus

Steven Goldstein and moderator Christopher Li

“Ukraine Today, Taiwan Tomorrow?”

The East Asian implications of the Russia-Ukraine War

by Jacob Sweet

The seven 2022 Harvard Horzions scholars

Harvard Horizons Spotlights Seven Scholars

Ph.D. students discuss subjects from aliens to infrastructural aesthetics.

by Jacob Sweet

Illustration of an eye superimposed on iconography from the national flag of China

Authoritarian Regimes’ AI Innovation Advantage

Unfettered access to personal data may give Chinese companies an edge in artificial intelligence.

by Daniel Oberhaus

Illustration showing different quality masks with different levels of exposure to pathogens indicated by red dots on the masks

How the Pandemic Killed the Uninfected

COVID-19’s toll on black patients extends to those who never got the virus.

by Erin O’Donnell

Photograph of Gary Jones standing in front of a tractor trailer truck

The Upward Mobility Problem

Most Americans earn less than their parents did. Can community colleges bridge the gap?

by Nancy Walecki

Illustration depicting social fissures during pandemic by tearing of the U.S. Constitution

The Broken Social Contract

Danielle Allen on America’s broken social contract