Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, the Committee on Degrees in

Social Studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

is a 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, an authority on international relations; *

Alexander Gerschenkron Alexander Gerschenkron (; 1 October 1904 – 26 October 1978) was an American economic historian and professor at Harvard University, trained in the German Historical School of economics. Born into a Jewish family in Odessa, then part of the ...

, an eminent economic historian; * H. Stuart Hughes, a specialist in European intellectual history; * Barrington Moore Jr., a political sociologist writing about Soviet society and revolutions; * Robert Paul Wolff, a student of political and social theory, who became head tutor for the first year of the program

Chairs

*Stanley Hoffman 1960s *

Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born March 3, 1935) is an American Political theory, political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor emeritus of the left-win ...

1970s * David S. Landes 1981–1993 * Charles Maier 1993–1997 * Seyla Benhabib 1997–2001 * Grzegorz Ekiert 2001–2006 * Richard Tuck 2006–2015 * James Kloppenberg 2015-2018 *Eric Beerbohm 2018-2023 * David Armitage 2023-Present

Notable alumni

* Charles Sabel,

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals workin ...

and political economist at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, 1969 *

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

, senior U.S. Senator from New York and current

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...

, 1971 * E.J. Dionne, Washington Post columnist, 1973 * Mickey Kaus, journalist, blogger, and 2010 Senate candidate, 1973 * Merrick B. Garland,

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

, 1974 * Mark Whitaker, former Editor of

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

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

Michael Kremer Michael Robert Kremer (born November 12, 1964) is an American Development economics, development economist currently serving as university professor in economics at the University of Chicago and director of the Development Innovation Lab at th ...

, 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 (), commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics(), is an award in the field of economic sciences adminis ...

, 1985 * Dean Norris, actor, 1985 *

Dean Wareham Dean Wareham (born 1 August 1963) is an American musician and actor who co-founded the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He departed from Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and went on to establish the band Luna (1990s American band), Luna. Following Luna's di ...

, musician (

Galaxie 500 Galaxie 500 was an American indie rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three studio albums: '' Today'' (1988), '' On Fire'' (1989), and '' This Is Our Music'' (1990). The band membership comprised guitarist and v ...

, Luna), 1985 *

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

, musician (

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

, The Nightwatchman, and

Audioslave Audioslave was an American Rock music, rock supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine memb ...

), 1986 *

Bill Ackman William Albert Ackman (born May 11, 1966) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company. His investment approach has made him ...

, 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, Ackman started Pershing Square Capital Management with $54 million in fundi ...

, 1988 * Diana Paulus, artistic director of the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

, 1988 * Lucy H. Koh, federal judge, 1990 * Ben Mezrich, author, 1991 * Joshua Redman, jazz musician, 1991 *

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 nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. On June 10, 2013, Fur ...

, Chairman of President Barack Obama's

Council of Economic Advisors The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the president of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

(CEA), 1992 * Ajit Pai, Chairman of the FCC, 1994 * Emily Chang, the anchor and executive producer of Bloomberg Technology, 2002 *

Holden Karnofsky Holden Karnofsky is an American nonprofit executive. Karnofsky co-founded the charity evaluator GiveWell with Elie Hassenfeld in 2007. He co-founded the grantmaking organization Open Philanthropy (organization), Open Philanthropy in 2014, and was ...

, 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 percenta ...

and Open Philanthropy, 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