Social Policy
Faculty of the Committee on Higher Degrees in Social Policy
Katherine Newman, Malcolm Wiener Professor of Urban Studies (Kennedy School) (Chair)
David Tabor Ellwood, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy (Kennedy School)
Christopher Jencks, Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy (Kennedy School) (on leave 2001-02)
Paul Pierson, Professor of Government
Mary C. Waters, Harvard College Professor and Professor of Sociology
This program awards two different degrees: the Ph.D. in Government and Social Policy and the Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy. Both of these programs are joint degrees that provide students a thorough grounding in one of these two traditional disciplines and then move them into a series of interdisciplinary seminars on social policy based at the Kennedy School of Government. Students submit applications for admission to the Committee on Higher Degrees in Social Policy, which must be accepted as well by the admissions committee of either the Department of Government or the Department of Sociology. From the very beginning of their graduate careers, then, students are taught and supervised by faculty from government, sociology and the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy in the Kennedy School.
This degree is intended for students who have central interests in problems of economic inequality; segregation; poverty; changing family structure; immigration, race, and labor market segmentation; educational inequality; and historical and comparative studies of inequality in the United States and abroad (especially Western Europe). It will be of particular interest for students who wish to combine solid training in the fundamental theoretical perspectives and methodological traditions of either government or sociology with advanced study of policy responses to these social problems. Students who would like the flexibility to pursue careers in departments of sociology or government, in schools of public policy, and in policy and other non-profit organizations may find these joint degrees especially suitable.
Students in the joint degree programs are eligible to apply for the Multidisciplinary Program on Inequality & Social Policy at the end of their first year of study. This training and fellowship program provides for summer institutes, research apprenticeships, and a variety of other opportunities. Please see the Web site www.ksg.harvard.edu/inequality for more details.
Applications for admission to the Ph.D. programs in Social Policy may be obtained from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Admissions Office, Byerly Hall, 2nd Floor, 8 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Further information about the joint degree programs may be obtained from the program Web site (www.ksg.harvard.edu/socialpol). Questions or requests for additional printed materials should directed to Pamela Metz, Director, via e-mail (social—policy@harvard.edu) or correspondence addressed to her attention at the Kennedy School of Government, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Primarily for graduates
*Sociology 296a. Proseminar on Inequality and Social Policy I
Note: Jointly offered with the Kennedy School as HLE-511.
*Sociology 296b. Proseminar on Inequality and Social Policy II.
Note: Jointly offered with the Kennedy School as HLE-512.
*Sociology 297. Workshop on Social Policy.
Note: Jointly offered with the Kennedy School as HLE-513.
Graduate Courses of Reading and Research
*Social Policy 301. Advanced Research Workshop in Inequality and Social Policy
Catalog Number: 3704
Katherine Newman (Kennedy School) 2651
A workshop designed for advanced graduate students of the Ph.D. programs in Government & Social Policy and Sociology & Social Policy. Workshop will focus on prospectus development and the presentation of dissertation research in progress.