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

How Americans Turned Against Knowledge

Tom Nichols dissects the dangerous antipathy to expertise.

by Lydialyle Gibson

A new challenge for antitrust

An increasing consolidation of ownership in health care  

by Marina N. Bolotnikova

Samuel Huntington remembered

A memorial minute on the eminent political scientist

by John S. Rosenberg

Excerpt from “Off the Charts,” by Ann Hulbert

Parents and superkids, then and now  

by Ann Hulbert

Excerpt from "Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing," by Victoria Sweet, M.D.

A doctor’s take on the destruction of medicine

FAS’s Inequality Initiative

The initative includes interdisciplinary conversation, annual symposia, and a postdoc program. 

by Marina N. Bolotnikova

How some colleges help first-generation and low-income students succeed

How some colleges help first-generation and low-income students succeed

by John S. Rosenberg

Market forces have made American higher education radically unequal

How market forces have made American higher education radically unequal

by Charles T. Clot...

The Legal Services Corporation tackles the “justice gap”

America’s unfulfilled promise of “equal justice under law”

by Lincoln Caplan

Cashing Out For Happiness

Research from HBS shows that by buying themselves out of negative experiences, people gain time for happiness-inducing activities like learning a language, or socializing.

by Oset Babür