# Department of Sociology [### Graduate Program ](/pages/graduate)Our program combines an emphasis on social theory and research methods and development of each student's own interest. ![William James Hall](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2024-07/WJH_71020_cropped_1920x1080.jpg?itok=uJ7SMvfY) [### Undergraduate Program ](/pages/undergraduate)Our Sociology undergraduate program provides students with the tools to engage more effectively with the world around them. ![Memorial Hall transcept](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/sociology/files/memorial_hall_transept_0.jpg?itok=zTvz6Ewj) [### Acclaimed Scholarship ](/pages/research-clusters)Faculty and students engage in a wide range of research projects and publications, spanning sites in the U.S. and abroad. ![Harvard Yard Undergraduate](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/sociology/files/CarouselUndergradYard_0.jpg?itok=QIiD7mLe) [### Leading Faculty ](/people/faculty)Renowned scholars with a broad array of knowledge, research interests, and methodologies. ![Harvard University](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/sociology/files/CarouselHarvardUniversity_0.jpg?itok=tXPEOp_4) ## News and Faculty Research Spotlights [### Symposium on Patterson's Paradox of Freedom Published ](/news/2026/06/symposium-pattersons-paradox-freedom-published) June 15, 2026 The European Journal of Sociology has published the remarks delivered at a panel discussion on the life and work of Stone Program faculty affiliate Orlando Patterson, the John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. This event took place at... ![Orlando Patterson](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_scale_small/public/2025-09/Orlando%20Patterson%20-%20Photo%20for%20Website.jpg.jpeg?itok=P3soM6JC) [### Ellis Monk awarded ASA Theory Section Award ](/news/2026/06/ellis-monk-awarded-asa-theory-section-award) June 08, 2026 American Sociology Association's Theory Section’s Lewis A Coser Award for Theoretical Agenda-Setting awarded to Professor Ellis Monk. Please see more about the award here . ![Ellis Monk](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_scale_small/public/2022-11-22_Dr.-Ellis-Monk_Harvard-University-002-2048x1152.jpg?itok=JAdEggaa) [### The Monk Skin Tone Scale now held in permanent collection of UK museum ](/news/2026/06/monk-skin-tone-scale-now-held-permanent-collection-uk-museum) June 02, 2026 Learn more about the Monk Skin Tone Scale, and the display at National Science and Media Museum Sound and Vision galleries. ![Monk skin tone museum display](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_scale_small/public/2026-06/monk%20scale_museum.jpeg?itok=rAgBrnYj) [### 2026 Sociology Undergraduate Thesis Prizes and Academic Awards ](/news/2026/05/2026-sociology-undergraduate-thesis-prizes-and-academic-awards-0) May 26, 2026 Students receive Fulton, Hoopes, Cummings, and Rose prizes for outstanding thesis work; Five students inducted to Phi Beta Kappa; Three students accepted to American Sociological Association 2026 Honors Program. Read more here. description [### Ellis Monk's research highlighted in The Harvard Gazette. ](/news/2026/05/ellis-monks-research-highlighted-harvard-gazette) May 26, 2026 Lives saved by sociologist’s fix for skin tone bias. An answer to the dangers of colorblind healthcare. The Monk Skin Tone scale, devised in 2019 by Professor Ellis Monk, helps create more accurate medical diagnostic tools for patients with dark skin. ![Ellis Monk holding skin tone card](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_scale_small/public/2026-05/Ellis%20Monk.jpg?itok=s12Gt7Qm) [### Ya-Wen Lei awarded the Berlin Prize for the 2026–2027 academic year. ](/news/2026/05/ya-wen-lei-awarded-berlin-prize-2026-2027-academic-year) May 18, 2026 The Berlin Prize is awarded annually to US-based scholars, writers, composers, and artists who represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields, from the humanities and social sciences to journalism, public policy, fiction, the visual arts... ![headshot of Ya-Wen Lei](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_scale_small/public/sociology/files/lei_ya-wen.jpg?itok=E2-vaC8X) [### Ya-Wen Lei has been selected as a fellow at the French Institute for Advanced Study (FIAS) program ](/news/2026/04/ya-wen-lei-has-been-selected-fellow-french-institute-advanced-study-fias-program) April 09, 2026 The Paris Institute for Advanced Study (Paris IAS), a research centre specialising in social sciences, humanities and related disciplines, will welcome eight international researchers this coming September for a ten-month research stay, selected under the... ![Ya-Wen Lei](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_scale_small/public/sociology/files/lei_2021.jpg?itok=bUu68SFJ) [### Daniel Schneider appointed Associate Director of Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies ](/news/2026/02/daniel-schneider-appointed-associate-director-harvard-center-population-and) February 18, 2026 Daniel Schneider, PhD, the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, and professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, has been appointed the associate director of the Harvard Center for... ![Danny Schneider](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/sociology/files/schneider_2.jpeg?h=6179b403&itok=lrbUTuYn) [### When the Chips Are Down ](/news/2026/02/when-chips-are-down) February 11, 2026 To understand why Xi is making these decisions, there is no better guide than the Harvard sociologist Ya-Wen Lei’s The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China . Her masterful study of what she calls China’s regime of “techno... ![lei_ya-wen_0.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/sociology/files/lei_ya-wen_0.jpg?itok=n8puY-q3)