Social Sciences – COMPASS: A Student's Guide to Houghton Library Collections

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, alphabetically the last Harvard concentration, comes at the end of a guide through Houghton that hopes to have shown that the library’s reputation for being a place where diversity is the exception to the rule is unfounded. From African and African American Studies to East…

Sociology

Described by the 49 Book as “the meeting place of the social sciences,” Sociology, as the study of human society, is interdisciplinary by definition. It is also not restricted to academic theory and large-scale studies; to quote Harvard’s concentration guide again, Sociology is the “study of social life at every…

Social Studies

Social Studies is the interdisciplinary concentration par excellence. Devised around a focus field rather than a concrete set of courses and requirements, it allows students to pursue any interest from a social scientific perspective. Houghton’s archive can most certainly cater to that, but, because of the concentration’s highly individualized curriculum,…

Psychology

Psychology is one of the most catholic concentrations at Harvard; classified as a social science, it is at once biological, philosophical, and sociological, tackling the mysteries of the human mind through many lenses and perspectives. Houghton’s collection reflects the universality of psychology, especially its strong ties to philosophy and the…

History and Science

Science and Houghton might appear like water and oil at first sight. However, delving into the library’s inexhaustible archive completely overturns that superficial impression, especially when it comes to the history of scientific inquiry. Houghton’s collection includes famous first editions and scientists’ papers, and the historian of science will feel…

History

Every material at Houghton is connected to the discipline of history in one way or another. Providing a cohesive picture of the collection and its relation to the study of the past, therefore, is a virtually impossible task. Some of the most remarkable historical artifacts found in the collection are…

Government

Government is one of the largest and most diverse concentrations at Harvard. Though one of its subfields is entirely dedicated to American politics, concentrators are also encouraged to pursue tracks such as comparative politics and international relations, which teach political science from a global perspective and broaden their intellectual scope.…

Economics

Houghton holds a large collection of historical material related to the discipline of economics. Students can, in fact, come into contact with what is probably the most important academic work in their concentration—the first, 1776 editions of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (Econ 429.7.76*, 003625612), considered to be the inception…

Anthropology

Anthropology, with its holistic approach to humanity, is a broad, catholic field. Houghton’s emphasis on being the guardian of some of humanity’s most prized treasures by collecting a wide range of material from around the globe, therefore, makes it the perfect research space for the anthropology student, who can even…

African and African American Studies

Houghton Library contains an impressive array of materials connected to the African and African American Studies concentration. The collection and its wealth of content about black history and culture, in fact, effectively challenge the very notion that Houghton is a hermetic bastion of tradition and intellectual conservatism, demonstrating the library’s…

Compass: A Student’s Guide to Houghton Library

Welcome to Compass, an attempt to offer interesting inroads for every Harvard undergraduate student, no matter what concentration or disciplinary interest, into Houghton Library's collections. The guide takes all 48 Harvard undergraduate concentrations and makes suggestions for interesting and engaging collection materials for that area of study. Houghton is Harvard's primary rare books and manuscripts library and it welcomes undergraduates at Harvard and beyond to make use of its collections. Learn more here and feel free to ask us any questions at [email protected].

About this guide

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Introduction
Acknowledgements
Undergraduate Fellowships
Fellows in the News

Harvard Concentrations

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