Social Sciences
Explore faculty and student work in economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, and other disciplines shaping our understanding of society.
America’s National Parks Are a $56 Billion Economic Engine
Harvard’s Linda Bilmes on measuring the economic value of public lands
Both Sides Now
Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s bifocal view of the civil-rights movement
Reporting, with an M.B.A.
Charles Duhigg unpacks how individuals and organizations work at war, on Wall Street, and in Silicon Valley
Professor Steven Pinker on Thinking Straight
An excerpt from the preface of Pinker’s 2022 book Rationality
A Democracy of Opportunity
Liberals must learn from conservatives how to interpret the Constitution in all its dimensions.
The Saving Glut of the Rich
High savings rates among the wealthiest U.S. earners may represent a macroeconomic risk
Will Cities Survive Another Pandemic?
Inequities threaten the long-term health of cities
Optimizing Public-School Spending
Home prices are a bellwether of efficient spending in local schools
Bruno Carvalho
An urbanist’s lifelong study of the “rhythm of cities,” from Rio to Cambridge
Penny Pritzker Gives $100 Million for New Harvard Economics Facility
Landmark support for an eminently strong department
Repatriating Native American Remains
Disputes over the disposition of sensitive collections shadow Peabody Museum