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
Girl Power
When Dan Kindlon watches the Tigers play softball, he sees the legacy of feminism for girls. “My daughter’s concentrating on...
The Rise of Faculty Centrism
Politically, U.S. professors are less liberal than many people believe, but their ranks also include fewer conservatives than in the early...
Bruce Western
Photograph by Jim Harrison Bruce Western His interest in prisons began “almost by accident,” says the new director of the Kennedy...
The fight to preserve biodiversity in the American West
Gilbert Gale uses all tools at his disposal to fight invasive plants in Western grasslands.
The Slave Rebellion in New York City
Historian Jill Lepore explores the lives of slaves during an alleged eighteenth century uprising
Public-health response to gun fatalities: make weapons less lethal
The public-health response to gun casualties: make the weapons less lethal
Who Built the Pyramids?
Not slaves. Archaeologist Mark Lehner, digging deeper, discovers a city of privileged workers.
Chimpanzees and the Law
Jane Goodall, renowned primatologist, discusses the illegal animal trade
Censorship online
Originally, the World Wide Web was envisioned as exactly that—a global vehicle for the unimpeded flow of information, without barriers...
Human origins driven by technological and cultural revolutions
Ofer Bar-Yosef argues that cultural and technological revolutions have been more important than biological ones during the past 100, 000 years.