Social Sciences
Explore faculty and student work in economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, and other disciplines shaping our understanding of society.
An Original Magna Carta, Hidden in Plain Sight
A rare original surfaces at Harvard at an “almost providential” moment.
by Nina Pasquini
The Bits the Bible Left Out
Karen King studies texts from Christianity’s first centuries to reinterpret the history of the early church.
by Lydialyle Gibson
From the Archives: Democracy’s Prospects
A Harvard Magazine Roundtable
Harvard in the Heartland
President Bacow listens (and builds partnerships) in Michigan.
by John S. Rosenberg
Fixing America’s Heartland
Could place-based policies solve regional economic and social problems?
by Oset Babür
Violent Innovations
In the antebellum South, slavery was paired with modern business practices.
by John A. Griffin
Durba Mitra
Harvard’s first professor appointed solely in gender studies
by Marina N. Bolotnikova
Rebel Lawyer
Gerald López’s radical theory—and practice
by Lydialyle Gibson
Shifting Sands
Family snapshots of living off the land, in the Kalahari
by Sophia Nguyen
From the Archives: Unequal Incomes
The worrisome distribution of the fruits of American economic growth
by Richard B. Freeman
Visualizing the World at the Harvard Map Collection
Maps can be applied to straightforward ends; they can also be fanciful, surprising, or plain weird.
by Marina N. Bolotnikova