Social Ethics at Harvard, 1881–1931

Potts, David B.

doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674732681.c2

Cited by 2 publications

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“…This persistent interdisciplinary focus is further reflected in the fact that two other units in the college offered early coursework in sociology. With Peabody as its chair, the newly created Department of Social Ethics (1906–1931) featured a curriculum that emphasized Christian‐influenced moral philosophy, social pathology, and social melioration, including social work practice (Potts, 1965). 3 In 1911, anthropology likewise began to play a role, as archaeologist Alfred Marston Tozzer introduced “Primitive Sociology: The Study of Institutions.”4 Economics, meanwhile, continued to offer instruction, primarily in Carver's long‐running “Principles of Sociology” and “Rural Sociology,” but also in assistant professor Benjamin Anderson's short‐lived “Analytical Sociology” (Church, 1965).…”

Section: Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Merton as Harvard sociologist: Engagement, thematic continuities, and institutional linkages

Nichols

2010

J History Behavioral Science

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In this paper I explore the significance of the initial decade of Robert K. Merton's graduate and professional career, from 1931, when he entered the new doctoral program in sociology at Harvard, until 1939, when he joined the Department of Sociology at Tulane University as an associate professor and acting chairperson. Drawing on archival sources, as well as the professional literature, I examine how Merton engaged the exceptionally rich, interdisciplinary context of Harvard in the 1930s, including both interpersonal networks and diverse intellectual perspectives. In particular, I identify connections between Merton's early writing, "oral publications" and teaching, and three locally developed and dominant paradigms of sociology. Following an assessment of the influence of Merton's works published from 1934 to 1939, I trace continuities between Merton's achievements at Harvard and his subsequent teaching and research at Tulane and Columbia. I conclude that a fuller appreciation of Merton's "less noticed" decade in Cambridge is indispensable for understanding his overall career, and that it clarifies linkages across sociological work at three universities in the mid-twentieth century.

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Section: Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Merton as Harvard sociologist: Engagement, thematic continuities, and institutional linkages

Nichols

2010

J History Behavioral Science

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“…Ford's position was not in psychology, but in Allport's other field of specialization: social ethics. Founded in 1906, social ethics was a relatively new department at Harvard; however, its professional project was strongly rooted in Victorian concems about building character (Potts, 1965). The department is perhaps best described as a kind of morally earnest, applied sociology.…”

Section: A Course and Its Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

To “Correlate Psychology and Social Ethics”: Gordon Allport and the First Course in American Personality Psychology

Nicholson¹

1997

Journal of Personality

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This article explores the historical origins of what is widely regarded as the "first course in American personality psychology": Gordon Allport's 1925 course entitled "Personality: Its Psychological and Social Aspects." It argues that thejrofessional focus and disciplinary context of Allport's course were much more complicated than is generally believed. Far from being a completely novel and distinctively psychological venture, Allport's course drew upon the moral concems and the pedagogical and discursive practices of Harvard's Department of Social Ethics. Allport's course on "Personality" represented a subtle attempt to bring Victorian concerns with character development together with the newly emerging ideal of objectivity.

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Social Ethics at Harvard, 1881–1931

Cited by 2 publications

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Merton as Harvard sociologist: Engagement, thematic continuities, and institutional linkages

Merton as Harvard sociologist: Engagement, thematic continuities, and institutional linkages

To “Correlate Psychology and Social Ethics”: Gordon Allport and the First Course in American Personality Psychology

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