Hi! My name is Julia Yanez (she/her) and I’m a rising senior from California living in Quincy House and studying Social Studies & Global Health and Health Policy. Though I entered Harvard as a pre-med, that interest lasted for two weeks before I realized my passion for understanding the social world. I found my interests drawn across disciplines as I explored courses in sociology, anthropology, government, and history of science, and Social Studies became the ideal fit to explore my interests with a theory grounding.

Social Studies has provided me with the literature and vocabulary to start interrogating the questions of “How do we live together?” and understanding why power and inequality exist in the ways manifested today. The concentration is demanding, but its stellar advising, fulfilling tutorials, and close-knit community values each concentrator’s unique intellectual inquiries and empowers students in their pursuit of theses and beyond.

I’m currently pursuing a thesis on the intersections of the right to health, biopolitics, disease eradication, and humanitarianism in my focus field “Empire and Global Health in the Twentieth Century.” If you have questions about focus fields, research, study abroad, representation + support in the concentration, or just trying to decide if social studies is the right fit, please reach out and I’m happy to talk :)

Extracurricular Activities: Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Harvard Undergraduate Women in Law, Crimson Arts, Latinas Unidas, Harvard Ceramics, Phillips Brooks House Volunteer

Favorite Courses: Social Studies 98vh: Reparations in Law and History; Social Studies 98cl. Law and American Society; HistSci 1460 Colonial to Global Health; HistSci 1441 On Health and Migration; GenEd 1069 Faith and Authenticity; Soc Std 10A/B

Other Concentrations Considered: History of Science, Sociology, History & Literature, Government