Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies is the committee that runs the honors-only, interdisciplinary concentration in social science subjects for undergraduate students. Founded in 1960, it reflects the belief that the study of the social world requires an integration of the disciplines of history, political science, sociology, economics, anthropology, and philosophy. All students are required to complete a senior thesis.

Founders

Stanley Hoffmann Stanley Hoffmann (27 November 1928 – 13 September 2015) was a French political scientist and the Paul and Catherine Buttenwieser University Professor at Harvard University, specializing in French politics and society, European politics, U. ...

, an authority on international relations; *

Alexander Gerschenkron Alexander Gerschenkron (russian: Александр Гершенкрон; 1 October 1904 – 26 October 1978) was a Russian-born American economic historian and professor at Harvard University, trained in the Austrian School of economics. Born i ...

, an eminent economic historian; *

H. Stuart Hughes Henry Stuart Hughes (1916–1999) was an American historian, professor, and activist. He advocated the application of psychoanalysis to history. Early life Hughes was born on May 16, 1916, in New York City, the son of Marjory Bruce Stuart and C ...

, a specialist in European intellectual history; *

Barrington Moore Jr. Barrington Moore Jr. (12 May 1913 – 16 October 2005) was an American political sociologist, and the son of forester Barrington Moore. He is well-known for his ''Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy'' (1966), a comparative study of ...

, a political sociologist writing about Soviet society and revolutions; *

Robert Paul Wolff Robert Paul Wolff (born December 27, 1933) is an American political philosopher and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Wolff has written widely on topics in political philosophy such as Marxism, tolerance (against ...

, a student of political and social theory, who became head tutor for the first year of the program

Chairs

David S. Landes David Saul Landes (April 29, 1924 – August 17, 2013) was a professor of economics and of history at Harvard University. He is the author of ''Bankers and Pashas'', '' Revolution in Time'', ''The Unbound Prometheus'', ''The Wealth and Poverty of ...

1981–1993 * Charles Maier 1993–1997 *

Seyla Benhabib Seyla Benhabib ( born September 9, 1950) is a Turkish-American philosopher. Seyla Benhabib is a senior research scholar and adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Columbia University Depar ...

1997–2001 * Grzegorz Ekiert 2001–2006 *

Richard Tuck Richard Francis Tuck (born 1 January 1949) is a British academic, political theorist and historian of political thought. He taught at the University of Cambridge from 1973 to 1995. He then joined the faculty of Harvard University, where he teaches ...

2006–

Notable alumni

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

, senior U.S. Senator from New York and current Senate Majority Leader, 1971 *

Bill Ackman William Albert Ackman (born May 11, 1966) is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager. He is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company. His investment approach makes him an activis ...

, American investor and hedge fund manager, CEO of

Pershing Square Capital Management Pershing Square Capital Management is an American hedge fund management company founded and run by Bill Ackman, headquartered in New York City. Company history In 2004, with $54 million in funding from his personal funds and former business part ...

, 1988 *

E.J. Dionne Eugene Joseph Dionne Jr. (; born April 23, 1952) is an American journalist, political commentator, and long-time op-ed columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He is also a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a profe ...

, Washington Post columnist, 1973 *

Ajit Pai Ajit Varadaraj Pai (; born January 10, 1973) is an American lawyer who served as chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2017 to 2021. He has been a partner at the private-equity firm Searchlight Capital since April 20 ...

, Chairman of the FCC, 1994 *

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello ...

, musician (Rage Against the Machine, The Nightwatchman, and Audioslave), 1986 * Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General of the United States, judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (and Obama Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee), 1974 *

Mickey Kaus Robert Michael "Mickey" Kaus (; born July 6, 1951) is an American journalist, pundit, and author, known for writing Kausfiles, a "mostly political" blog which was featured on ''Slate'' until 2010. Kaus is the author of ''The End of Equality'' and ...

, journalist, blogger, and 2010 Senate candidate, 1973 *

Michael Kremer Michael Robert Kremer (born November 12, 1964) is an American development economist who is University Professor in Economics And Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He is the founding director of the Development Innovation Lab at the Be ...

, developmental economist, winner of the

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...

, 1985 * Mark Whitaker, former Editor of

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

, 1979 * Adam Cohen, journalist and author, 1984 *

Dean Norris Dean Joseph Norris (born April 8, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for playing DEA agent Hank Schrader on the AMC series '' Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2020). He also portrayed town councilm ...

, actor, 1985 *

Joshua Redman Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006). Life and career Joshua Redman was born in Berkeley, California, to jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman ...

, jazz musician, 1986 *

Ben Mezrich Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author. Early life and education Mezrich was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Molli Newman, a lawyer, and Reuben Mezrich, a chairman of radiology at the University of Maryland Schoo ...

, author, 1991 *

Lucy H. Koh Lucy Haeran Koh (born August 7, 1968) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the Unit ...

, federal judge, 1990 *

Charles Sabel Charles Fredrick Sabel (born December 1, 1947) is an American academic and professor of Law and Social Science at the Columbia Law School. His research centers on public innovations, European Union governance, labor standards, economic developm ...

, MacArthur Fellow and noted political economist at Columbia University *

Jason Furman Jason Furman (born August 18, 1970) is an American economist and professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. On June 10, 2013, Furman was named b ...

, Chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) *

Emily Chang Emily Chang may refer to: * Emily Chang (actress) (born 1980), American actress * Emily Chang (journalist) Emily Hsiu-Ching Chang (; born August 11, 1980) is an American journalist, executive producer, and author. Chang was the anchor and execut ...

, the anchor and executive producer of Bloomberg Technology, 2002 *

Holden Karnofsky Holden Karnofsky is an American nonprofit executive. He is a co-founder and co-chief executive officer of the research and grantmaking organization Open Philanthropy. Karnofsky co-founded the charity evaluator GiveWell with Elie Hassenfeld in 200 ...

, co-founder of

GiveWell GiveWell is an American non-profit charity assessment and effective altruism-focused organization. GiveWell focuses primarily on the cost-effectiveness of the organizations that it evaluates, rather than traditional metrics such as the percent ...

and

Open Philanthropy Open Philanthropy is a research and grantmaking foundation that makes grants based on the doctrine of effective altruism. It was founded as a partnership between GiveWell and Good Ventures. Its current co-chief executive officers are Holden ...

, 2003

Footnotes

External links

Committee on Degrees in Social StudiesSocial Studies and ‘The Harvard Problem’Social Studies -- It's Just Like Grade School!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Committee On Degrees In Social Studies Harvard University