Social Sciences

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

Red brick building with large windows and greenery, set against a bright blue sky.

FAS Overhaul Brings Deep Cuts to Social Sciences, Phillips Brooks House

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Playwright and activist Eve Ensler opened the two-day conference with a reading from her recent memoir.

Harvard conference discusses gender in medicine and public health

A Radcliffe conference examines the role of gender in medicine and public health.

David I. Laibson

Pershing Squares Ackman funds Harvard initiative

Hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman and Karen Ackman donate $26 million.

Rohini Pande

Harvard economist Rohini Pande assesses the impact of public policies

Economist Rohini Pande assesses the impact of public policies.

Joseph Conrad in 1916. In the background, ships entering the Suez Canal, circa 1888-90: harbingers of globalization

Maya Jasanoff sees uses of fiction in study of history

Historian Maya Jasanoff says fiction can capture the subjective experience of the past.

by Craig Lambert

Changes in climate have surprisingly far-reaching economic effects.

Economists begin quantifying the economic effects of climate change

Climate change has diverse and far-reaching economic effects.

by Katherine Xue

Alison Wood Brooks

Get excited to perform well

Under pressure, getting excited yields better results than remaining calm.

by Erin O’Donnell

Hanoi’s streets (in 2007, above) are now full of motorcycles and scooters, and shop shelves are no longer bare.

Harvard and Vietnam’s economic development

During a quarter-century of engagement in Vietnam's economic development, Harvard scholars create a unique educational institution.

by John S. Rosenberg

The inscription below this bust of Vidyasagar quotes Rabindranath Tagore: “The chief glories of [his] character were neither his compassion nor his learning, but his invincible manliness and imperishable humanity.” The presence of a garland speaks to the reverence many still feel for the man.

Brief life of Indian reformer Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar, by Brian A. Hatcher

Brief life of an Indian reformer: 1820-1891

by Brian A. Hatcher

During a tour of a shantytown in the heart of São Paulo, a resident feigns a wedding proposal to HSPH’s Sarah MacDonald, as University of São Paulo's Ana Carolina Navarrete (left) and HSPH's Panji Hadisoemarto look on.

Harvard students interested in public health gain field experience in Brazil

Students spend their January term immersed in experiential learning.

John Briscoe

'Nobel Prize of Water' awarded to John Briscoe

'Nobel Prize of Water' given to Harvard professor for "unparalleled contributions" to global water resource management