Social Sciences

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

Robert Coles Was Most at Home on the Playground

A colleague remembers the late Harvard professor and child psychiatrist, who died this month.

by Alex Harris

The Third Way

Ellen Langer rejects binary thinking, embracing instead a “third way.”

by Erin O’Donnell

Financial and mental health are linked

Around the globe, Vikram Patel finds, improvements in financial or mental health support both.

by Veronique Greenwood

Allston expansion, admissions litigation, center for cities

Bigger Allston ambitions, an admissions-lawsuit appeal, and a new center for cities

Community-engaged research lessons for students via Harvard’s Mindich Program

The Undergraduate learns about making knowledge mutual.

by Che Applewhaite

A Failed Peaceful Transfer of Presidential Power

Bill Kristol discusses the future of the Republican Party and the survival of American constitutional democracy. 

by Jonathan Shaw

Making Voters Care About Climate Change

A professor and a marketing professional try a new tack in climate-change communications.

by Jonathan Shaw

Alternatives to Policing

A Law School report offers the City of Boston recommendations for reform.

by Lydialyle Gibson

The Crisis in Civic Education

A U.S. Department of Education-funded study, coauthored by Danielle Allen, calls for urgent reinvestment in civic education.

by Spencer Lee Lenfield

Baking Sourdough Bread is a Survival Instinct

A Harvard grandmother’s—and grandson’s—research

by Jacob Sweet

An intellectual history of the Cold War era

In a new book, Louis Menand probes the cultural currents of postwar America.

by Spencer Lee Lenfield