Frequently Asked Questions

Contemporary Studies of Race & Ethnicity (SOC 321) - (Expected to be offered in 2017-2018)

The Contemporary Studies of Race & Ethnicity (CSRE) workshop's purpose is to provide a forum to disseminate knowledge and facilitate dialogue among graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars working on or interested in research about contemporary studies related to race & ethnicity. Though the Sociology department hosts the workshop, we seek to bring scholars together across disciplines to explore topics such as ethno-racial hierarchies, racial attitudes, and intergroup relations, as well as the role of race in institutions, politics, and everyday life. The workshop will… Read more about Contemporary Studies of Race & Ethnicity (SOC 321) - (Expected to be offered in 2017-2018)

Politics and Social Change (SOC 316)

We live in a world on the move. According to the World Bank, one out of every seven people in the world today is an international or internal migrant who moves by choice or because they are forced to flee. These individuals send a lot of money, ideas, and practices back home and sending governments, which now depend upon them, want to make sure these flows keep coming. They offer emigrants incentives to stay connected to their homelands including the expatriate vote, dual citizenship, or absentee representation in the national legislature.

For some, living across borders comes easily… Read more about Politics and Social Change (SOC 316)

Urban Data Lab (SOC 313)

Professors Robert Sampson and Mario Small are organizing a small lab to support research by students and post-docs examining a subset of topics regarding the urban condition in the 21st century. Students enrolled in the lab must be working on one of the following datasets: the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, the project on Twitter Data and Human Mobility, and the project on Alternative Measures of Resource Access in Poor Neighborhoods. The lab is organized around two themes: big data (fall) and the comparative analysis… Read more about Urban Data Lab (SOC 313)

Social Demography

The Social Demography Seminar at the Center for Population and Development Studies provides a lively forum for scholars to discuss in-progress social scientific research. Social demography includes work that uses demographic methods to describe and explain the distribution of social goods across populations. The Social Demography Seminar thus welcomes informal presentations of work in progress on a wide variety of topics such as family, gender, race/ethnicity, inequality, im/migration, fertility, mortality, and the institutional arrangements that shape and respond to population processes.… Read more about Social Demography

Can I use Interfolio to submit my Letters of Recommendation?

Harvard GSAS's application system requires a letter writer's email address. You can input an Interfolio-generated email address in place of your letter writer’s email. This will allow Interfolio to upload the letter directly to the application, without bothering your letter writer. Interfolio refers to these as Online Application Deliveries.

1. Check the documents in your Interfolio Dossier to make sure your letter writer has uploaded a letter to your account. Letters that have not been received cannot be used in an online application delivery, so they won't have a Document Email… Read more about Can I use Interfolio to submit my Letters of Recommendation?

Mixed Methods Workshop (SOC 319) - (Expected to be offered in 2017-2018)

The graduate workshop on mixed methods is a forum for graduate students and faculty to present their empirical work—qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods—and get feedback on the empirical veracity of their claims. Individuals of all methodological persuasions are welcome. We are particularly interested in exploring synergies that can occur across methodological boundaries, either in the context of mixed-methods projects or in the context of collaboration between qualitative and quantitative researchers. (Expected to be offered in 2017-2018)

Work, Organizations, and Markets Seminar

The long-standing interdisciplinary research workshop on Work, Organizations, and Markets (WOM) brings together faculty and graduate students from several Harvard departments and programs in the social sciences that study organizational phenomena, especially the Sociology Department and the GSAS Joint Program in Organizational Behavior. Its subject matter includes all three levels of analysis of concern in organizational research: individual behavior and interaction in organizational settings; the structure and action of organizations as collectivities; and the characteristics of groups,… Read more about Work, Organizations, and Markets Seminar

Urban Social Processes Workshop (SOC 314) - (Expected to be offered in 2017-2018)

Cities are back, urbanization is rapidly expanding around the world, and new forms of data are presenting unique opportunities for research. Soc 314 is a forum to explore the social mechanisms, processes, and structures that occur in urban settings and the diverse behaviors that are shaped by spatial inequality. The workshop highlights the presentation of graduate student research but also includes discussion sessions on selected readings and work-in-progress by faculty at Harvard and around the country. (Expected to be offered in 2017-2018)

Transnational Studies Initiative

For some, living across borders comes… Read more about Transnational Studies Initiative

Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Europe (CES Study Group)

The Seminar on Social Exclusion and Inclusion at the Center for European Studies invites speakers from both sides of the Atlantic to present research on a broad range of issues pertaining to the dynamics of exclusion and inclusion in Europe. This year, among other topics, we will discuss the relationship between urban space and politics, and look at beauty standards and exclusion in the modeling industry across Europe. The seminar is open to participants from across the university as well as from other institutions. In the Fall, we will meet once a month on Friday, from 2:15 to 4:00 pm.… Read more about Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Europe (CES Study Group)

Department of Sociology