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

Nicholas Christakis

Network scientists at Harvard: Nicholas Christakis, Laura Bogart, Martin Nowak

Exploring the weblike structures that underlie everything from friendship to cellular behavior

by Elizabeth Gudrais

Ben Adida

Online voting system Helios offers prototype for transparent, secure elections

The online voting system Helios offers a prototype for transparency and security in elections.

Jared Diamond and James Robinson apply "natural experiments" to studying histor

Applying "natural experiments" to the study of history

by Elizabeth Gudrais

Jay Lorsch and Rakesh Khurana offer a new paradigm for executive compensation

Time for a new paradigm for executive compensation

by Jay Lorsch , Rakesh Khurana

Gutenberg 2.0: What future for libraries?

Harvard’s libraries deal with disruptive change.

by Jonathan Shaw

Chlorine dispensers clustered outside the IPA office

Michael Kremer's Group Aims To Bring Safe Drinking Water to the Developing World

A Harvard professor's project in Kenya strives to avoid common pitfalls of development work.

Amy Oster (second from right) and Stephen Kosslyn (right)

Scholars from Harvard and beyond address "hard problems" in the social sciences

Scholars from Harvard and elsewhere name their fields' most pressing problems, and open a forum for public debate on the Web.

Bass professor of government Michael Sandel delivered a luncheon address that examined the way markets “leave their mark” on the rest of society.

Harvard in China: Michael Sandel comments on the moral limits of markets

Remarks by Michael Sandel

Harvard in China: Barry Bloom, Arthur Kleinman, and Yuanli Liu on healthcare

A panel discussion with Barry Bloom, Yuanli Liu, and Arthur Kleinman

Arthur Kleinman, Rabb professor of anthropology and professor of medical anthropology, lectured at Fudan University’s Contemporary Anthropology Forum.

Harvard in China: connections in medical anthropology, ecological city planning

Ethnographic perspectives on caregiving and Shanghai urban development