Making Sense of Methods for Theoretical and Historical Research

Harvard FAS

This course has three interrelated aims. First, it will introduce students to the foundational questions of the philosophy of social science. How do social scientists and theorists interpret and explain the world around them? How are models and concepts created and applied? What does it mean to argue that one event causes another one? Second, the class will familiarize students with the range of theoretical and historical methods that could be used in a senior thesis. What are the established…