Anya Bernstein Bassett is the Director of Studies in Social Studies and a Senior Lecturer. She is available for general academic advising as well as for discussions with students who wish to pursue joint concentrations, independent studies, unusual paths within Social Studies, or who have concerns about their progress or ideas about how the concentration can be improved. Dr. Bassett should be contacted by students who have questions about the lottery system for junior tutorials or general questions and concerns about the junior tutorial program. She also coordinates the senior tutorial program and is available to students who have concerns about their senior theses or questions about the honors process. Students should email Dr. Bassett directly to make appointments.Anya Bernstein Bassett received her B.A. from Barnard College in 1990 and her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1997. Dr. Bassett studies children, families, and young adults in American society and politics. She is particularly interested in family policy and the relationship between social class, child rearing, and life outcomes. She is also interested in the intellectual and emotional development of college students. Dr. Bassett is the author of The Moderation Dilemma:  Legislative Coalitions and the Politics of Family and Medical Leave (University of Pittsburgh Press) and two articles. She is currently working on approaches to teaching about inequality at Harvard College.

She is a recipient of the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa award for Excellence in Teaching and the Star Family Prize for Excellence in Advising; she has also been nominated for the Levinson Teaching Prize and the John R. Marquand Award for Exceptional Advising and Counseling. She was voted a “favorite professor” by the Harvard College classes of 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2018.