Social Sciences
Explore faculty and student work in economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, and other disciplines shaping our understanding of society.
Why America’s Strategy For Reducing Racial Inequality Failed
Harvard professor Christina Cross debunks the myth of the two-parent Black family.
by Saima Sidik
Ways to cope with the federal debt
The politics, policymaking, and public consequences of mounting government debt—and how to cope with it
David Cutler on trimming U.S. healthcare costs
Administrative costs, greed, overutilization—can these drivers of U.S. medical costs be curbed?
by David Cutler
Rebecca Henderson, “Reimagining Capitalism” to save the planet
The Business School’s Rebecca Henderson reimagines capitalism to save the planet.
“Tightrope,” by Kristof and WuDunn, reviewed by Allison Pugh
Americans diminished by “social poverty”
by Allison Pugh
Teaching Academic Honesty in CS50
In a paper aimed at fellow educators, David Malan reports on interventions designed to teach academic honesty in the wildly popular introductory computer science course he teaches at Harvard.
Karen Dynan on the Coronavirus Recession
The severe economic fallout, in context
Lizabeth Cohen Bancroft Prize
The urban historian is honored—for the second time.
African and African-American Studies Celebrates 50 years
Speakers discuss history, progress, hope, and home.
Harvard and Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health Team to Fight SARS-CoV-2
As the novel coronavirus begins spreading in populations outside China, Harvard announces a collaboration with Chinese researchers to develop diagnostics and therapies for treating SARS-CoV-2.
Short-term increases in air pollution linked to several new diseases
Researchers studying 95 million Medicare records find new fine-particle impacts in the blood, gut, skin, kidneys, and other organs.