Hello! Without the slightest idea of what “concentrating in Social Studies” meant, I was initially set on concentrating in Government on the public policy track with a secondary in Economics. However, as I learned about the potential to study the issues I care most about across multiple disciplines while being part of a tight-knit, interesting community, concentrating in Social Studies became increasingly alluring. Despite initially feeling unprepared and intimidated by the idea of diving into social theory and philosophy, my best academic experiences have undoubtedly come from the Social Studies concentration. Between the ability to explore my focus field across anthropology, government, economics, and philosophy and my enriching experience in the Social Studies 10 sophomore tutorial, I couldn’t be happier with my decision to concentrate in Social Studies.

Please feel free to reach out! I’m more than happy to talk about reservations to concentrate in Social Studies (which I definitely had), my experiences in the department, or really anything about the concentration.

Academic Interests: Deaths of despair (deaths by suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism), social policy, economic inequality 

Extracurricular Activities: Institute of Politics Policy Program, William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard College Project for Justice, Room 13, Crimson Key Society, Harvard Radio Broadcasting (WHRB 95.3 FM)

Favorite Courses: Anthro 1826: Anthropology of Mental Health, Mental Illness and Mental Health Care; Social Studies 10B; Ec50: Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems; Gov 1108: The Politics of Economic Inequality