Committee on Degrees in Social Studies

At Harvard University 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, an authority on international relations;
• Alexander Gerschenkron, 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;
• Laurence Wylie, a scholar working on social change in France

Chairs

• Stanley Hoffmann
• Michael Walzer
• David S. Landes 1981-1993
• Charles Maier 1993-1997
• Seyla Benhabib 1997-2001
• Grzegorz Ekiert 2001-2006
• Richard Tuck (current) 2006-

Well-Known Graduates

• E.J. Dionne, Washington Post columnist, 1973
• Merrick B. Garland, judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1974
• Mickey Kaus, journalist, blogger, and 2010 Senate candidate, 1973
• Mark Whitaker, former Editor of Newsweek, 1979
• Joshua Redman, jazz musician, 1986
• Ben Mezrich, author, 1991
• Lucy H. Koh, Federal Judge, 1990
• Charles Sabel, MacArthur Fellow and noted political economist at Columbia University

External links

• Committee on Degrees in Social Studies
• Social Studies and ‘The Harvard Problem’
• Social Studies -- It's Just Like Grade School!