Social Sciences

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

Former Homeland Security Chief Says ICE and CBP Have “Lost Their Way”

At Kennedy School talk, Jeh Johnson advocates restructuring “outdated” DHS.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Glaeser: Tax Credits for Home Heating Won't Help

Glimp professor of economics Edward L. Glaeser doesn't like the Home Energy Affordability Tax Relief Act, which would give each American household a tax credit for a third of the household's energy costs...

Times Columnist Likes Katz, Goldin Take on Education and Economy

American young adults today have more education than their parents—but the growth rate of educational attainment from one generation to the next has slowed significantly...

Raiders Rehabilitated

Harvard Business School professor Josh Lerner and coauthors offer a revisionist view of corporate raiders and their Gordon Gekko image after reviewing 5,000 buyouts...

by Josh Lerner

Your Money, or Your Life?

The promise of a more fulfilling approach to personal finance: George Kinder, author of Seven Stages of Money Maturity, explains how financial planning is an emotional process...

by Nell Porter-Brown

Unequal America

Causes and consequences of the wide—and growing—gap between rich and poor

by Elizabeth Gudrais

Where Does Tuberculosis Hide?

The fight against an ancient scourge shifts to new battlegrounds...

by Jonathan Shaw

Feldstein: Why the Government Should Help Homeowners

On the opinion page of yesterday's Washington Post, Feldstein (Baker professor of economics, who soon ends his term as...

Islam in the United States, from 1492 to 2008

A recent episode of the Here & Now interview show on WBUR, a Boston-based National Public Radio affiliate, features Jocelyne Cesari, director of Harvard's Islam in the West Program...

The ancient Mesopotamian settlement of Tell Brak

Evidence of ancient urbanism at the Mesopotamian settlement of Tell Brak....

by Paul Gleason

Making Credit Safer

It is impossible to buy a toaster that has a one-in-five chance of bursting into flames and burning down your house. But it is possible to...