Theory and Methods
The department's long tradition of classical European theory and qualitative research methods has been deepened and renovated over the years since Everett Hughes, Kurt Wolff, Lewis Coser, and Egon Bittner gave them their distinctive stamp. Theoretical training includes classical, feminist, critical, postmodern, psychoanalytic, existential, democratic, French and German social theory. Methodological training includes a variety of methods, especially field methods and ethnography, for which many of our published dissertations are especially well known, as well as comparative, historical, and quantitative methods. Theoretical and methodological rigor have been accompanied, in the work of many students and faculty, with active engagement in community and institutional renewal, and with building peace, civil rights, social justice, feminist, labor, women's health, disability rights and independent living movements.
The Graduate Student Methods Collaborative is a self-organized group of graduate students who develop intensive methods workshops for undergraduates, especially those engaged in writing senior theses and other major research projects, and who deepen the opportunities for one-on-one mentoring that characterize relationships among all levels of the department.
Core Faculty and Research Interests
Wendy Cadge: Sociology of religion, culture, health and medicine, immigration, gender, sexuality, organizations, research methods.
Peter Conrad: Symbolic Interaction, Field Methods.
David Cunningham: Classical Theory, Quantitative Methods.
Gordon Fellman: Psychoanalytic Theory.
Karen V. Hansen: Feminist Theory, Comparative and Historical Methods.
Gila Hayim: Classical, Critical, Postmodern, Existential Theory.
Laura Miller: Cultural Theory, Communication Theory.
Shulamit Reinharz: Field Methods, Feminist Methods.
George Ross: French Social Theory.
Sara Shostak: Sociology of health and illness, science and technology studies, body and society, sociology and bioethics, environmental health and justice, qualitative research methods.
Carmen Sirianni: Democratic Theory, Participatory Action Research.
Other Resources
Program in Degrees in Social Studies, Harvard University, has provided the opportunity for many of our graduate students to teach the year-long social theory honors tutorial, and well as to develop methods workshops and supervise senior theses.