Defending Social Studies     Vicki Chu

"O wow, you go to Harvard?" runs the typical reaction to my institution of higher education. "So, what do you study?"

"Social Studies."

Perceptibly, my interlocutor's enthusiasm fades.  "That's...nice.  So you're going to do social work when you graduate?"

No, actually, I'm not.  Not to say that I don't have tremendous respect for those who do, but Social Studies is a rigorous field of study whose ambiguous name obscures the vast possibilities available through it.  I know how it is.  For most people, "Social Studies" conjures up visions of 6th period in junior high, or even geography in elementary school. So I thought I'd explain just what it is I study.

Despite the lack of legitimacy the title seems to grant my academic focus,I can't think of anything that better describes what I study besides "Social Studies." Essentially, what we do is study society. What has driven societies and why? 

It's different from Government/Political Science because it doesn't just deal with contemporary politics, but the theoretical underpinnings of our world and culture.  Involved is economics, but according to social scientists, money isn't the only engine of society.  We read some history, some philosophy, some sociology, but for the ideal Social Studies student, nothing of itself is enough; the synthesis of these methodologies drives us. In fact, Social Studies is a relatively new department at Harvard, formed as an interdisciplinary concentration to accomodate students with broad interests.  Sometimes we joke around and say that it is for the kids who like everything so much they can't decide. Whatever the case, it is certainly true that concentrators write theses on topics as diverse asthe significance of Ukrainian Nationalism in the post-USSR era and the influence of the Simpsons in American culture. Alumni also pursue varied fields: some enter medicine, and others, government or law.

What links us all, I believe, is a true depth of intellectual vigor and curiosity, and the shared suffering of one of the most rigorous humanities classes at Harvard.  While we are given a lot of leeway as to our specializations within the field, every Social Studies student must take Social Studies 10: Introduction to Social Studies.  In other words, a survey of some major works of social science that have defined the way we think even now in the 21st century.

Sounds innocuous enough. Until you see the reading list. Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Michel Foucault, Jurgen Habermas, Emile Durkheim, Simone de Beauvoir, and Friedrich Nietzsche number among the luminaries whose works we digest.  It's very demanding, but so provoking, and ultimately worthwhile.

Actually, that's how I would characterize the whole program.  And that's what I love about it.  I am sure most of my fellow students would agree with me. That's why year after year, a hundred or so intrepid freshmen fill out applications to enter Social Studies. Of course, at that point, no one really yet knows quite what they're getting themselves into, or what exactly "Social Studies" is I guess that's what we're supposed to spend the next three years finding out.