Department of Sociology

Graduate Program

Our program combines an emphasis on social theory and research methods and development of each student's own interest.
Undergraduate Program

Our Sociology undergraduate program provides students with the tools to engage more effectively with the world around them.
Research

Faculty and students engage in a wide range of research projects spanning sites in the U.S. and abroad.
Courses

Great courses on poverty, immigration, race, ethnicity, corporate management, politics, social history, work, gender & culture.
Global Engagement

Professor Emeritus Ezra Vogel and Professor Ya-Wen Lei at the Harvard Fairbank Center's "Xi Jinping Briefing."
Faculty

Professors Alexandra Killewald and Mary C. Brinton at the Comparative Gender Inequality Seminar held at the Weatherhead Center.
Acclaimed Scholarship

Michèle Lamont receives the Erasmus Prize for her contributions to the social sciences in Europe and the rest of the world.
Celebrating the Career of William Julius Wilson

A symposium was held September 11-13, 2019 to celebrate the career of William Julius Wilson.

Welcome!

The Department of Sociology at Harvard has a rich and varied history. Whether it be the social systems approach of Talcott Parsons or the social exchange tradition pioneered by George Homans, the department has always been home to sociologists who are deeply committed to the development of sociological theory in the service of addressing fundamental sociological questions about the empirical world. The Harvard department of the 21^st century is characterized by unsurpassed methodological breadth and depth, with faculty and students engaged in methods ranging from ethnography, in-depth interviews, and archival work to advanced statistical modeling. Deep engagement with central social issues in the American landscape such as urban inequality and mass incarceration is coupled with expertise in political, economic, and social and cultural issues in other parts of the world such as Latin America, Asia, and Europe. We invite you to explore sociology at Harvard.

Spotlights

More Than Just Race: Skin Tone and the Criminal Justice System

May 6, 2020
For many decades now social scientists have shown how, in so many ways, one's ethnoracial background is associated with a whole host of important outcomes from educational attainment to labor market outcomes to health. Many studies also provide compelling evidence of ethnoracial disparities in the criminal justice system – the probability of being arrested, incarcerated, and even the length of criminal sentences. ... Read more about More Than Just Race: Skin Tone and the Criminal Justice System
The Rise of Non-Normative Households in South Korea

November 1, 2019
The dramatic transformation of family patterns in advanced capitalist societies has received much attention in both academia and the popular press. News coverage of family change in East Asia, especially, is fueling alarm and anxiety with frequent stories about how low-fertility rates are contributing to rapidly aging populations, an unsustainable trend given the fragility of pension programs specifically, and welfare systems generally.... Read more about The Rise of Non-Normative Households in South Korea
Labor Contention in China’s Changing Economy

July 31, 2019
Although traditionally known as “the world’s factory,” China’s economy has changed immensely in recent years. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the number of jobs in the manufacturing sector has been declining since 2012, whereas jobs in the service sector have been increasing. As the country’s economy and primary industries have changed, so too have its labor conflicts. Ya-Wen Lei, Assistant Professor of Sociology, investigates the labor organizing of drivers for China’s fast-growing food-delivery platforms.... Read more about Labor Contention in China’s Changing Economy
The Production of Wealth Gaps between Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics

March 1, 2019
Harvard University Professor of Sociology Alexandra Killewald and Rice University Assistant Professor of Sociology Brielle Bryan argue in a recent post on the American Sociological Association's Work in Progress blog that racial and ethnic wealth disparities in the United States are the product of both legacies of disadvantage and inequality in contemporary achievement processes.
... Read more about The Production of Wealth Gaps between Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics
Launching Political Sociology and the People's Health

December 4, 2018
A social epidemiologist looks at health inequalities in terms of the upstream factors that produced them. A political sociologist sees these same inequalities as products of institutions that unequally allocate power and social goods. Sociology Chair Jason Beckfield's new book asks an important question: can the two talk to one another? ... Read more about Launching Political Sociology and the People's Health
Lamont Presidential Lecture out in American Sociological Review

June 10, 2018
Michèle Lamont, Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies, Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies, served as the 108th president of the American Sociological Association in 2016-17. Her term took an unexpected turn with the election of Donald Trump in November 2016: it befell on her to take a leadership role in defending the professional interests of sociologists and the conditions for academic freedom.... Read more about Lamont Presidential Lecture out in American Sociological Review
Gender Inequality, Employment, and Family in Postindustrial Societies

May 1, 2018
Mary Brinton has been studying gender inequality for a long time, motivated in particular by the high level of gender inequality in Japan and other East Asian societies. Her current project considers gender inequality in light of what many social demographers consider a crisis of the family as an institution—namely, the emergence of historically low birth rates throughout the postindustrial world.... Read more about Gender Inequality, Employment, and Family in Postindustrial Societies
Making Sense of a Perplexing Country and an unwieldy Subject: Studies in the sociology of development and of modern-day trafficking and slavery

March 1, 2018
The Confounding Island: Institutions, Culture and Mis-Development in Post-Colonial Jamaica was just delivered to the press by Professor Orlando Patterson. This book examines one of the world’s most perplexing societies. Famous for the spectacular successes of its athletes and musicians, its vibrant democracy, and its religiosity, Jamaica is equally infamous for being among the world’s most violent places.... Read more about Making Sense of a Perplexing Country and an unwieldy Subject: Studies in the sociology of development and of modern-day trafficking and slavery