Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Kelsey Quigley PhD, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Steven Raymond Boomhower PhD, Principal Toxicologist, Gradient
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Kelsey Quigley PhD, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Bethany Burum PhD, Associate of the Department of Psychology and Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Richard Joseph Martin PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Steven Raymond Boomhower PhD, Principal Toxicologist, Gradient
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Richard Joseph Martin PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Bethany Burum PhD, Associate of the Department of Psychology and Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Richard Joseph Martin PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Anthropology and Psychology
Bethany Burum PhD, Associate of the Department of Psychology and Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and archival research, scholarly writing and argumentation, descriptive research methods, quasi-experimental and experimental design, ethical issues, and analytical methods. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate statistics and research methods courses are recommended, computer literacy (skills and experience with the internet, Word, and Excel) required. Students must receive a satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Michael Tworek PhD, Associate, Department of History, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Asher Orkaby PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Harry Bastermajian PhD, Executive Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Doug Bond PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Doug Bond PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
January 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Stephen Shoemaker PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Doug Bond PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Doug Bond PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Asher Orkaby PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Ariane Liazos PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Spring 2025
Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History, and International Relations
Ariane Liazos PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing and presenting research results. Emphasis is on developing both writing and research skills. Students study essential categories of analysis used in history and political science. Because skills learned in this course are useful in subsequent courses, it is the first course that prospective Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) candidates should take toward the degree (or the second, if they are completing the expository writing prerequisite). While not designed to be a thesis or capstone proposal course, this course does serve as a foundation for eventual work on the thesis or capstone.
Prerequisites: A satisfactory score on the mandatory test of critical reading and writing skills or a B or higher grade in the alternate expository writing course. EXPO E-42b is strongly recommended. In addition, at the first class meeting, students must complete a writing assignment that demonstrates their graduate-level reading comprehension and ability to write coherent, logical arguments.
Fall 2024
Human Nature
Joseph Henrich PhD, Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Harvard University - Cameron M. Curtin PhD, Lecturer in Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
In addressing the question of what makes us human, this course examines the origins, evolutionary foundations, and psychological underpinnings of human behavior by synthesizing research from across the social, psychological, and biological sciences. Rather than opposing biological and cultural explanations, this course lays out a framework that illuminates learning and culture within a broad evolutionary framework that permits us to explore kinship, parental love, sibling rivalry, food preferences (such as sugar and salt), incest, altruism, sex differences, social status, homicide, warfare technology, language, and religion. Using a comparative approach, we contextualize human behavior by examining both studies of non-human primates, especially chimpanzees, as well as the full breadth of human diversity, including both ethnographic and experimental data from hunter-gatherers, herders and agriculturalists, and the most unusual of all people from industrialized societies. We also consider how cultural evolution has shaped our genetic evolution, both over our species evolutionary history and in more recent millennia.
Fall 2024
Dying Well
Jason Bryan Silverstein PhD, Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine and Co-Director, Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health Program, Harvard Medical School
"How does one go about dying?" the poet Franz Wright asked. "The world is filled with people / Who have never died." For a matter so inevitable, which the best minds of every generation have tackled, a good death seems increasingly out of reach. As modern medicine racks up victories to ensure healthier and longer lives, a quieter, darker parallel story is emerging in even our finest hospitals: people die anxious and in pain, pursuing long-shot treatments instead of comfort. Why is dying so difficult and how can we make death a better experience for others, and ultimately ourselves? This course examines notions of identity, hope, and what counts as a good outcome through a close reading of Paul Kalanithi's dying memoir When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal. It then turns to how we make sense of suffering, anticipate and practice grief, and care for the memories of the dead through a reading of Michelle Zauner's Crying in H-Mart and Emily Rapp's The Still Point of the Turning World. Finally, we consider philosophical reflections on mortality, including if death is bad, how death should change the way we live, and why we ought to strive to live and die with gratitude.
Spring 2025
Social Medicine in the United States
Jason Bryan Silverstein PhD, Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine and Co-Director, Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health Program, Harvard Medical School
If you are sick or hurt, whether you live or die depends not only on biological factors, but social ones: are you wealthy or poor? Do you have a stable home and health insurance? How far away is the closest trauma center or pharmacy? Do people believe your illness is your fault, or even something you deserve? This course explores how social factors create health disparities in the United States. We gain foundational knowledge of key concepts in social medicine, including an overview of health care policy in the United States and the arguments for health as a human right. We then turn to what we can call chronic emergencies: case studies of people and communities who have been denied health care and allowed to suffer and die, because they are poor, uninsured, undocumented, or otherwise social outcasts. Our examples are drawn from across the United States, from the eviction crisis in Milwaukee, to injection drug users in San Francisco, to the people who endure gang violence in Chicago, to the suffering of Mexican migrants in California. We give significant attention to the lived experience of poverty, housing insecurity, addiction, discrimination, and violence. As we encounter these examples, we engage directly with guest speakers from the community. In the final section, we turn from studying how harm falls unevenly to considering how social determinants can be incorporated into action plans; students apply the themes and concepts from the course to explore topics of their own choosing. By the end of the course, students not only have a knowledge of concepts and case studies in social medicine, but also knowledge about how to close the gaps that we study. For premedical students, this course reviews concepts found on the psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior section of the MCAT, including how sociocultural factors and access to resources have an impact on health.
Spring 2025
Health Inequities and Health Justice in Urban Communities
Flavia Perea PhD, Lecturer on Sociology, Harvard University
This course explores the relationship between health, place, and social location, and how nested factors influence and determine the health of people and communities in urban settings. Emphasizing health as multidimensional, contextual, and socially determined, we explore the history, principles, theories, and frameworks relevant to understanding inequities in health, as well as tools and strategies for advancing justice in health across sectors of civic and community life. We explore how inequity gets under the skin and operates on the body; discuss how racism, oppression, social stratification, and systemic advantages and disadvantages all structure and perpetuate injustice in health; how systems, institutions, and policies influence health. To understand how socio-environmental factors can create pathways to health or disparities, we explore the mechanisms by which poverty, socioeconomic status, education, housing, and the built environment create and sustain inequitable health outcomes in urban communities. Understanding the social conditions people need to be healthy, we turn our attention to approaches for advancing justice in health, with particular attention to root-cause strategies. We explore community development, capacity building, and community mobilization as strategies for building power for health. We discuss health improvement interventions and how community engagement, participatory processes, and cross-sector collaboration can help create and sustain health promoting environments.
Spring 2025
Child Health in America and Around the World
Judith S. Palfrey MD, T. Berry Brazelton Professor of Pediatrics, Emerita and Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Emerita, Harvard Medical School, and Honorary Associate of Adams House, Harvard College - Sean Palfrey MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health Emeritus, Boston University, and Honorary Associate of Adams House Emeritus, Harvard College
This course focuses on children and adolescents and looks at factors that have an impact on their health, growth, and development. Increasingly, it is understood that child health depends on a complex of interrelated factors. Biologic and genetic issues are very important in determining children's health status. Societal, environmental, community, and family factors also play a major role in child health outcomes. We focus on social concerns such as economic status, class, race, and ethnicity. The American Academy of Pediatrics has called out poverty and racism as actual pathogens. We explore the American healthcare system and ask why in the richest country in the world, our child health outcomes are measured near the bottom in comparison with other industrialized nations and our black infant mortality remains twice that of white infant mortality. In light of the recent experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, we pay special attention to the impact of infections on children and compare the US response with that of other countries. We also look at the history of infectious disease outbreaks and the ways that these have been controlled and ultimately prevented. Finally, the course emphasizes the importance of team approaches among people from multiple backgrounds and organizations. Increasingly, we are understanding that if the threats to child health live in the society and community, so do the answers. We discuss strength-based approaches and the shifting of power and agency to families and communities and learn how hope and accentuating the positive are new approaches that are beginning to have success in the promotion of child health.
Prerequisites: Interest in children and adolescent health and development. Familiarity with population-based data sets is helpful but not required.
Fall 2024
Pursuing Truth and Justice: Community-Based, Participatory, and Action Research
Flavia Perea PhD, Lecturer on Sociology, Harvard University
This course explores the principles and methods of community-based, participatory, and action research. We engage with various perspectives on the process, practice, and applications of engaged inquiry, with an emphasis on diverse voices, sources, and materials. The course seeks to connect to students' professional work and personal pursuits outside of their coursework. Through this course, students learn to apply the course concepts and tools to their academic and professional work, as well as to advocacy and organizing efforts they may be engaged or interested with. In the course we discuss various frameworks and systems of knowing and meaning making through the research process; how they are centered on, or the extent they intersect with the pursuit of equity and justice; and pragmatic approaches for moving from theory to practice. We discuss power and privilege in the context of research; perspectives on investigator identity and location; the promise and limitations of engaged inquiry to help advance social change; and the ethics of inquiry with historically and systemically oppressed people and communities. We explore a variety of approaches, including participatory action research (PAR), community-based participatory research (CBPR), and citizen science, and discuss how different approaches for asking questions, methods for gathering and analyzing information, and sharing knowledge can be applied within various engaged research approaches. Ultimately, we critically examine how inquiry that emphasizes equity, collaboration, and reciprocity in the uncovering, integration, application, and dissemination of knowledge can be a tool of liberation and certain methods a strategy for responding to oppression, colonization, and systems of domination.
January 2025
Leadership and Politics
John Paul Rollert PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Behavioral Science, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business - George Jacob Wendt JD, Consultant
American politics, in general, and presidential campaigns, in particular, hold many lessons for leading for-profit and not-for-profit start-up ventures. Capital must be raised; a large, diverse team must be organized and deployed; and a brand must be developed and sold. The hours are long, the pressure is incredibly intense, and the stakes could not be higher. Succeed, and you are on your way to a plumb job in Washington, DC. Fail, and you are left looking for a job. Accordingly, popular politics provides remarkable lessons in compelling leadership and successful management. This course aims to harvest them by way of an analysis of recent presidential campaigns and contemporary politics. Though emphasis is placed on American politics, lessons may be applied across the public and private sectors. Our readings are drawn from history, literature, philosophy, business, and politics, and in addition to lectures and discussion, the course also features guest speakers from business, journalism, and politics. Students may not take both GOVT E-1353 (offered previously) and SSCI E-144 for degree or certificate credit.
Spring 2025
Race, Gender, and Medicine
Roberto Sirvent PhD, Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine, Part-time, Harvard Medical School
Why is racism so prevalent in hospitals and other health care settings? What unique challenges do transgender and gender-diverse youth face as a result of recent transphobic laws and policies? How are community organizers advocating for the end of medical neglect, abuse, and torture in prisons and migrant detention facilities? By centering issues of gender, race, and sexuality, social approaches to medicine and public health challenge and expand contemporary debates in the medical humanities. This course provides an overview of the theoretical landscape and social movements that ground recent developments in the field, especially as it engages feminist theory, disability justice movements, critical race theory, queer theory, anti-colonial thought, and trans liberation movements. Special attention is paid to the structuring force of anti-Blackness in various clinical and research settings, the development and racialization of transgender medicine, and what it means to view state violence as an issue in public health and the medical humanities. Students may not take SSCI E-145 and SWGS S-1232 for degree or certificate credit.
Spring 2025
Self, Society, and Politics
Nicolas Prevelakis PhD, Associate Senior Lecturer on Social Studies, Harvard University
This course examines the main ways in which the relationship between self, society, and politics has been conceptualized in major sociological and philosophical texts. What are the political implications of different ways of understanding the self? Is it fair to talk about a western individualistic tradition? And how do recent technological changes affect our understanding of who we are and how we interact? The course relies on readings of classical texts, from sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and history. It includes primary texts (Plato, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, mile Durkheim, W.E.B. Du Bois, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler), as well as recent sociological studies. Particular emphasis is placed on the ways in which social and political theorists have used conceptions of the self as foundation for their views of society and politics.
Fall 2024
Engaging in the Scholarly Conversation I
Doug Bond PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University - Michael David Miner PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course trains students in the skills of critically engaging the scholarly literature in their field of study. They learn how to assess the presuppositions, argumentation, methodology, evidence, and conclusions of scholarly writing in their discipline. After building that foundational skill set, the second portion of the course focuses on how to identify patterns, debates, and schools of thought in the larger body of existing scholarship relevant to the students' interests, which is an essential precursor of the final goal: identifying gaps or opportunities for future scholarly contributions.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed SSCI E-100b with a grade of B or higher to enroll in this course. SSCI E-300a and SSCI E-300b must be completed before registering in the Crafting the Thesis Proposal tutorial for thesis-track students and prior to the precapstone course for capstone-track students. We strongly advise students to complete the two weekends in the same academic year with same instructor (part one in fall and part two in spring).
Fall 2024
Engaging in the Scholarly Conversation I
Ariane Liazos PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course trains students in the skills of critically engaging the scholarly literature in their field of study. They learn how to assess the presuppositions, argumentation, methodology, evidence, and conclusions of scholarly writing in their discipline. After building that foundational skill set, the second portion of the course focuses on how to identify patterns, debates, and schools of thought in the larger body of existing scholarship relevant to the students' interests, which is an essential precursor of the final goal: identifying gaps or opportunities for future scholarly contributions.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed SSCI E-100b with a grade of B or higher to enroll in this course. SSCI E-300a and SSCI E-300b must be completed before registering in the Crafting the Thesis Proposal tutorial for thesis-track students and prior to the precapstone course for capstone-track students. We strongly advise students to complete the two weekends in the same academic year with same instructor (part one in fall and part two in spring).
Spring 2025
Engaging in the Scholarly Conversation II
Doug Bond PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course trains students in the skills of critically engaging the scholarly literature in their field of study. They learn how to assess the presuppositions, argumentation, methodology, evidence, and conclusions of scholarly writing in their discipline. After building that foundational skill set, the second portion of the course focuses on how to identify patterns, debates, and schools of thought in the larger body of existing scholarship relevant to the students' interests, which is an essential precursor of the final goal: identifying gaps or opportunities for future scholarly contributions.
Prerequisites: Only students who have successfully completed SSCI E-300a in the fall with a grade of B-minus or higher may take this course. SSCI E-300a and SSCI E-300b must be completed before registering in the Crafting the Thesis Proposal tutorial for thesis-track students and prior to the precapstone course for capstone-track students. We strongly advise students to complete the two weekends in the same academic year with same instructor (part one in fall and part two in spring).
Spring 2025
Engaging in the Scholarly Conversation II
Michael David Miner PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course trains students in the skills of critically engaging the scholarly literature in their field of study. They learn how to assess the presuppositions, argumentation, methodology, evidence, and conclusions of scholarly writing in their discipline. After building that foundational skill set, the second portion of the course focuses on how to identify patterns, debates, and schools of thought in the larger body of existing scholarship relevant to the students' interests, which is an essential precursor of the final goal: identifying gaps or opportunities for future scholarly contributions.
Prerequisites: Only students who have successfully completed SSCI E-300a in the fall with a grade of B-minus or higher may take this course. SSCI E-300a and SSCI E-300b must be completed before registering in the Crafting the Thesis Proposal tutorial for thesis-track students and prior to the precapstone course for capstone-track students. We strongly advise students to complete the two weekends in the same academic year with same instructor (part one in fall and part two in spring).
Spring 2025
Engaging in the Scholarly Conversation II
Ariane Liazos PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course trains students in the skills of critically engaging the scholarly literature in their field of study. They learn how to assess the presuppositions, argumentation, methodology, evidence, and conclusions of scholarly writing in their discipline. After building that foundational skill set, the second portion of the course focuses on how to identify patterns, debates, and schools of thought in the larger body of existing scholarship relevant to the students' interests, which is an essential precursor of the final goal: identifying gaps or opportunities for future scholarly contributions.
Prerequisites: Only students who have successfully completed SSCI E-300a in the fall with a grade of B-minus or higher may take this course. SSCI E-300a and SSCI E-300b must be completed before registering in the Crafting the Thesis Proposal tutorial for thesis-track students and prior to the precapstone course for capstone-track students. We strongly advise students to complete the two weekends in the same academic year with same instructor (part one in fall and part two in spring).
Fall 2024
Survey Research Methods
Chase H. Harrison PhD, Senior Preceptor in Survey Methodology, Harvard University
This course introduces students to the theoretical underpinnings and practical challenges of survey research, designed to help students better understand, interpret, and critically evaluate surveys and public opinion polls.
Prerequisites: An introductory course in social science research methods, or appropriate background, is helpful.
Spring 2025
Survey Research Methods
Chase H. Harrison PhD, Senior Preceptor in Survey Methodology, Harvard University
This course introduces students to the theoretical underpinnings and practical challenges of survey research, designed to help students better understand, interpret, and critically evaluate surveys and public opinion polls.
Prerequisites: An introductory course in social science research methods, or appropriate background, is helpful.
Fall 2024
Advanced Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Historical Approaches
Ariane Liazos PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course surveys historical approaches to research in the social sciences. The purpose is to teach the theory and application of historical research methods to help students create well-designed thesis or capstone projects. It provides students a sound grounding in a broad range and variety of historical fields and approaches (that is, political, cultural, global, institutional, or gender) with special attention to archival research, document analysis, oral history, and the study of material culture. The focus is on understanding how historians and other social scientists approach original historical research and developing the skills required for primary source analysis. The course is ideally suited for Master of Liberal Arts candidates preparing to undertake historical thesis or capstone research as well as others interested in developing their methodological toolkit.
Fall 2024
Advanced Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Quantitative Designs
Chase H. Harrison PhD, Senior Preceptor in Survey Methodology, Harvard University
This course surveys empirical research methods in the social sciences. The purpose of this course is to teach the theory and application of hypothesis-based empirical research methods to help students create well-designed thesis projects. It gives students a sound grounding in a broad range and variety of approaches, including experimental designs, surveys, case studies, and mixed-methods research, with special attention to sampling, measurement, and threats to validity. The focus is on developing analytical thinking skills, identifying empirical research questions, formulating hypotheses, operationalizing ways to test them, and drawing conclusions based on statistical techniques. Readings are drawn from government, international relations, psychology, and other similar fields. The course is ideally suited for Master of Liberal Arts candidates preparing to undertake empirical thesis research as well as others interested in developing their methodological toolkit.
Spring 2025
Advanced Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Qualitative Approaches
Richard Joseph Martin PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
With an emphasis on qualitative approaches, this course surveys a wide range of research methods in the social sciences. The purpose of this course is to teach the theory and application of these research methods to help students create well-designed thesis projects. It gives students a sound grounding in a broad range and variety of methods including phenomenology, ethnography, case study, grounded theory, and narrative research, with special attention to interviewing, observational techniques, and emergent design. The focus is on developing analytical thinking skills, identifying research questions, and developing conclusions based on the collection and analysis of primary data. The course is ideally suited for Master of Liberal Arts candidates preparing to undertake qualitative thesis research as well as others interested in developing their methodological toolkit.
Fall 2024
Identity Precapstone: Theory and Research
Alexandra Sedlovskaya PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course exposes students to scholarly literature on a broad range of topics in the social scientific study of identity, such as class, gender, race, religion, and sexuality. Readings draw on a variety of methodological approaches, and students are expected to engage with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research. Students cultivate an understanding of psychological approaches and their relevance to solving real-world problems related to identity, building toward a capstone project in applied research. The course requires a draft, revision, and oral presentation of a written proposal for the capstone project in SSCI E-599b (which includes a problem statement, literature review, identification of sites and stakeholders, and project rationale).
Prerequisites: Registration is limited to officially admitted candidates in Master of Liberal Arts, psychology or anthropology, who are in their penultimate semester. Prospective candidates and students with pending admission applications are not eligible. Candidates must be in good academic standing, have completed the engaging in scholarly conversation series (if required), and be in the process of successfully completing all other degree requirements. Candidates must enroll in the capstone, SSCI E-599b, in the upcoming spring term as their one and only final course (no other course registration is allowed simultaneously with the capstone). Candidates who do not meet these degree requirements are dropped from the course.
Spring 2025
Identity Capstone: Bridging Research and Practice
Alexandra Sedlovskaya PhD, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University
This course builds upon the foundation established in SSCI E-597b by creating a capstone project that bridges research and practice. The project includes two components: the project prototype and the academic report. The prototype is the specific product designed to address the real-world problem identified in the fall term proposal. Prototypes can take two different forms. First, they can apply research to design a project that addresses a real-world problem experienced by stakeholders. Second, they can communicate scholarship to audiences who would benefit from knowing the information (for example, a publishable article or a website explaining current research to non-academic stakeholders). Projects are based on specific interests of each student and developed in consultation with the instructor. These specialized projects allow students to seek a practical application of research on identity, while developing their skills designing research-based practice and engaging stakeholders. The capstone culminates with a formal presentation of the students' projects.
Prerequisites: Registration is limited to officially admitted capstone track candidates in the Master of Liberal Arts, psychology or anthropology. Candidates must be in good academic standing, ready to graduate in May with only the capstone left to complete (no other degree-fulfilling course registration is allowed simultaneously with the capstone), and have successfully completed the precapstone course, SSCI E-597b, in the previous fall term. Candidates who do not meet these degree requirements are dropped from the course.