The Department of Social Relations for Interdisciplinary Social Science Studies, more commonly known as the "Department of Social Relations", was an interdisciplinary collaboration among three of the social science departments at Harvard University (anthropology, psychology, and sociology) beginning in 1946. Originally, the program was headquartered in Emerson Hall at Harvard[1] before moving to William James Hall in 1965.[2] While the name "Social Relations" is often associated with the program's long-time chair and guiding spirit, sociologist Talcott Parsons, many major figures of mid-20th-century social science also numbered among the program's faculty, including psychologists Gordon Allport (personality and motivation), Jerome Bruner (cognitive psychology and narrative analysis), Roger Brown (social psychology and psycholinguistics), and Henry Murray (personality); anthropologists Clyde and Florence Kluckhohn (value orientations), John and Beatrice Whiting (cross-cultural child development), Evon Z. Vogt (comparative religion); and sociologist Alex Inkeles (Soviet studies and national character). Other prominent scholars, such as Jerome Kagan (developmental psychology) and Ezra Vogel (East Asia studies and sociology) belonged to the department early in their careers before it split. Many of the department's graduate students also went on to be major figures in US social sciences during the latter part of the twentieth century; their work tends towards strong interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches.
Allport and Boring discussed the origins of the department's name in the April 1946 issue of the American Psychologist:
While [academic] departmental lines have remained rigid, there has been developing during the last decade, a synthesis of socio-cultural and psychological sciences which is widely recognized within the academic world in spite of the fact that there is no commonly accepted name to designate the synthesis. We propose that Harvard adopt, and thus help establish, the term Social Relations to characterize the emerging discipline which deals not only with the body of fact and theory traditionally recognized as the subject matter of sociology, but also with that portion of psychological science that treats the individual within the social system, and that portion of anthropological science that is particularly relevant to the social and cultural patterns of literate societies.[3]
Social Relations sponsored or collaborated in a number of research studies characterized by explicit cross-cultural comparisons and multidisciplinary approaches to problems of policy or social theory. Major projects included the Six Cultures Study (headed by John and Beatrice Whiting, an anthropological study of child development in six different cultures, including a New England Baptist community; a Philippine barrio; an Okinawan village; an Indian village in Mexico; a northern Indian caste group; and a rural tribal group in Kenya); a multidisciplinary analysis of Soviet culture and society, published in part as How the Soviet System Works; and the Comparative Study of Values in Five Cultures during the 1950s, which examined five very different communities living in the same region of Texas: Zuni, Navajo, Mormon (LDS), Spanish-American (Mexican-American), and Texas Homesteaders.[4][5][6]
The curriculum of the Harvard Social Relations had four inter-related components:
Sociology;
Social Psychology;
Social Anthropology; and
Personality Theory.
The program disaggregated into its component departments around 1972, though a certain interdisciplinarity remained throughout the 1970s.[7]
A similar program at Yale, the Institute for Human Relations, also now disbanded, developed the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), a cross-cultural database for comparative research, administered by Carol and Melvin Ember.
Melvin Ember, (1933–2009) cultural anthropologist (Yale)
Edward Shils, (1911–1995) sociologist (University of Chicago)
Selected publications
Bauer, Raymond A., Alex Inkeles, and Clyde Kluckhohn. 1956. How the Soviet System Works: cultural, psychological, and social themes. New York: Vintage.
Homans, George Caspar. 1984. Coming to My Senses: The Autobiography of a Sociologist. Medford, MA: Routledge.
Inkeles, Alex; with D.J. Levinson; Helen Beier; Eugenia Hanfman; Larry Diamond. 1997. National Character: a psycho-social perspective. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Kluckhohn, Florence Rockwood and Fred L. Strodtbeck. 1961. Variations in value orientations. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.
Munroe, Ruth H., Robert L. Munroe, Beatrice B. Whiting, eds. 1981. Handbook of cross-cultural human development. New York: Garland.
Parsons, Talcott. 1949. The Structure of Social Action. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
Parsons, Talcott and Edward Shils. 1951. Toward a General Theory of Action. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Vogt, Evon Zartman and Ethel M. Albert Vogt. 1966. People of Rimrock; a study of values in five cultures. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Whiting, Beatrice and John Whiting. 1975. Children of Six Cultures: a psychocultural analysis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
References
^Blass, T. (2004). The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram. p 22 ISBN0-7382-0399-8
^Blass, T. (2004). The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram. p 148 ISBN0-7382-0399-8
^Blass, T. (2004). The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram. p 18 ISBN0-7382-0399-8
^Kluckhohn, Florence Rockwood and Fred L. Strodtbeck. 1961. Variations in value orientations. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.
^Vogt, Evon Zartman and Ethel M. Albert Vogt. 1966. People of Rimrock; a study of values in five cultures. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
^Schmidt, P. L. (1978). "Towards a history of the department of social relations: Harvard University, 1946-1972." Unpublished honors thesis. Harvard College.
[2] Social Relations at Harvard after Seventeen Years
William James Hall
January 06, 2023
harvard, department, social, relations, department, social, relations, interdisciplinary, social, science, studies, more, commonly, known, department, social, relations, interdisciplinary, collaboration, among, three, social, science, departments, harvard, uni. The Department of Social Relations for Interdisciplinary Social Science Studies more commonly known as the Department of Social Relations was an interdisciplinary collaboration among three of the social science departments at Harvard University anthropology psychology and sociology beginning in 1946 Originally the program was headquartered in Emerson Hall at Harvard 1 before moving to William James Hall in 1965 2 While the name Social Relations is often associated with the program s long time chair and guiding spirit sociologist Talcott Parsons many major figures of mid 20th century social science also numbered among the program s faculty including psychologists Gordon Allport personality and motivation Jerome Bruner cognitive psychology and narrative analysis Roger Brown social psychology and psycholinguistics and Henry Murray personality anthropologists Clyde and Florence Kluckhohn value orientations John and Beatrice Whiting cross cultural child development Evon Z Vogt comparative religion and sociologist Alex Inkeles Soviet studies and national character Other prominent scholars such as Jerome Kagan developmental psychology and Ezra Vogel East Asia studies and sociology belonged to the department early in their careers before it split Many of the department s graduate students also went on to be major figures in US social sciences during the latter part of the twentieth century their work tends towards strong interdisciplinary and cross disciplinary approaches Allport and Boring discussed the origins of the department s name in the April 1946 issue of the American Psychologist While academic departmental lines have remained rigid there has been developing during the last decade a synthesis of socio cultural and psychological sciences which is widely recognized within the academic world in spite of the fact that there is no commonly accepted name to designate the synthesis We propose that Harvard adopt and thus help establish the term Social Relations to characterize the emerging discipline which deals not only with the body of fact and theory traditionally recognized as the subject matter of sociology but also with that portion of psychological science that treats the individual within the social system and that portion of anthropological science that is particularly relevant to the social and cultural patterns of literate societies 3 Social Relations sponsored or collaborated in a number of research studies characterized by explicit cross cultural comparisons and multidisciplinary approaches to problems of policy or social theory Major projects included the Six Cultures Study headed by John and Beatrice Whiting an anthropological study of child development in six different cultures including a New England Baptist community a Philippine barrio an Okinawan village an Indian village in Mexico a northern Indian caste group and a rural tribal group in Kenya a multidisciplinary analysis of Soviet culture and society published in part as How the Soviet System Works and the Comparative Study of Values in Five Cultures during the 1950s which examined five very different communities living in the same region of Texas Zuni Navajo Mormon LDS Spanish American Mexican American and Texas Homesteaders 4 5 6 The curriculum of the Harvard Social Relations had four inter related components Sociology Social Psychology Social Anthropology and Personality Theory The program disaggregated into its component departments around 1972 though a certain interdisciplinarity remained throughout the 1970s 7 A similar program at Yale the Institute for Human Relations also now disbanded developed the Human Relations Area Files HRAF a cross cultural database for comparative research administered by Carol and Melvin Ember Contents 1 Scholars associated with social relations at Harvard 2 Notable graduates of social relations at Harvard 3 Interlocutors 4 Selected publications 5 References 6 External linksScholars associated with social relations at Harvard EditGordon Allport 1897 1967 psychologist Roger Brown social psychologist Jerome Bruner psychologist George Homans sociologist Alex Inkeles sociologist and scholar of national character Clyde Kluckhohn 1905 1960 anthropologist Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn anthropologist Seymour Martin Lipset sociologist Eleanor Maccoby developmental psychologist Barrington Moore sociologist David McClelland psychologist Henry A Murray psychologist Talcott Parsons 1902 1979 sociologist David Riesman sociologist Charles Tilly 1929 2008 sociologist historian political scientist Evon Z Vogt anthropologist Harrison C White sociologist Robert W White 1904 2001 personality psychologist John Whiting anthropologist 1908 1999 anthropologist Beatrice Blyth Whiting 1914 2003 anthropologistNotable graduates of social relations at Harvard EditRobert N Bellah sociologist American civil society Bertram J Cohler 1938 2012 psychoanalyst and cultural psychologist Roy G D Andrade cognitive anthropologist Carol R Ember cultural anthropologist Zelda Gamson sociologist and educational reformer Harold Garfinkel 1917 2011 sociologist Clifford Geertz 1926 2006 cultural anthropologist Mark Granovetter sociologist Janellen Huttenlocher developmental and cognitive psychologist Edward E Jones social psychologist Nathan Kogan social psychologist Leon Kamin experimental psychologist Edward O Laumann sociologist and sexologist Jean Lipman Blumen sociologist and leadership scholar Jean Mandler cognitive psychologist Dan P McAdams social and personality psychologist Stanley Milgram 1933 1984 social psychologist Richard Price American anthropologist Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo 1944 1981 feminist theorist and psychological anthropologist Renato Rosaldo cultural anthropologist Barbara Rogoff developmental and cultural psychologist Richard A Shweder psychological anthropologist and cultural psychologist Neil Smelser sociologist Fred L Strodtbeck 1919 2005 social psychologist Abby Stewart personality and feminist psychologist Marc J Swartz 1931 2011 cultural anthropologist Charles Tilly 1929 2008 sociologist historian political scientist Michael Wallach social psychologist Barry Wellman 1942 sociologistInterlocutors EditIrvin L Child 1915 2000 psychologist Yale Melvin Ember 1933 2009 cultural anthropologist Yale Edward Shils 1911 1995 sociologist University of Chicago Selected publications EditBauer Raymond A Alex Inkeles and Clyde Kluckhohn 1956 How the Soviet System Works cultural psychological and social themes New York Vintage Homans George Caspar 1984 Coming to My Senses The Autobiography of a Sociologist Medford MA Routledge Inkeles Alex with D J Levinson Helen Beier Eugenia Hanfman Larry Diamond 1997 National Character a psycho social perspective New Brunswick NJ Transaction Publishers Kluckhohn Florence Rockwood and Fred L Strodtbeck 1961 Variations in value orientations Evanston IL Row Peterson Munroe Ruth H Robert L Munroe Beatrice B Whiting eds 1981 Handbook of cross cultural human development New York Garland Parsons Talcott 1949 The Structure of Social Action Glencoe IL The Free Press Parsons Talcott and Edward Shils 1951 Toward a General Theory of Action Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press Vogt Evon Zartman and Ethel M Albert Vogt 1966 People of Rimrock a study of values in five cultures Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press Whiting Beatrice and John Whiting 1975 Children of Six Cultures a psychocultural analysis Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press References Edit Blass T 2004 The Man Who Shocked the World The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram p 22 ISBN 0 7382 0399 8 Blass T 2004 The Man Who Shocked the World The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram p 148 ISBN 0 7382 0399 8 Blass T 2004 The Man Who Shocked the World The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram p 18 ISBN 0 7382 0399 8 Kluckhohn Florence Rockwood and Fred L Strodtbeck 1961 Variations in value orientations Evanston IL Row Peterson Vogt Evon Zartman and Ethel M Albert Vogt 1966 People of Rimrock a study of values in five cultures Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press GAD Home Archived 2006 09 27 at the Wayback Machine Schmidt P L 1978 Towards a history of the department of social relations Harvard University 1946 1972 Unpublished honors thesis Harvard College External links EditFurther reading 1 History of the Harvard Psychology Department 2 Social Relations at Harvard after Seventeen Years William James Hall Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harvard Department of Social Relations amp oldid 1068227040, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
