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
On the Medicalization of Our Culture
In a Humanities Center symposium, scholars outlined how the concepts of disease and diagnosis pervade ever more facets of our lives.
Harvard Economists' Take on the Financial Crisis
A new webpage aggregates the views of professors including Martin Feldstein, Gregory Mankiw, Kenneth Rogoff, and many others.
Save Yourself
Harvard Business School’s Peter Tufano says simplifying savings-bond purchases for small savers will benefit citizens and government alike.
The Internet: Foe of Democracy?
The Internet, by allowing like-minded individuals to self-segregate, has had a polarizing effect on democracy, suggests Harvard Law School’s Cass Sunstein..
The Developing Child
With a new interdisciplinary center, Harvard turns its focus to the earliest years of life.
Decisionmaking, Measured
A new interdisciplinary decision-science lab will host experiments from psychology, economics, and beyond.
Retirement Engine Rebuilt
Skeptical of both defined-benefit and defined-contribution retirement plans, Harvard Business School professor Robert Merton proposes a hybrid, SmartNest, to overcome the shortcomings of each.
by Paul Gleason
Habeas Corpus and the War on Terrorism
In the fight against terrorists, habeas corpus has played a key role in efforts to balance civil liberties against national security.
Studying Schooling
Two new education centers, run by Roland Fryer and Thomas Kane, and an existing center, run by Paul Peterson, bring Harvard’s analytic resources to bear on public education issues: student achievement, teacher recruitment, and school choice.
Where Decisionmaking Is Measured
A new interdisciplinary decision-science lab will host experiments from psychology, economics, and beyond.