Nathan E. Fosse
Program
Global Academy
Appointment
Global Scholar (Successful Societies)
Institution
Harvard University
Country
USA 
Nathan Fosse is a CIFAR Global Scholar working under the supervision of Successful Societies Program Directors Michèle Lamont and Peter Hall in Harvard University’s Departments of Sociology and Government. Nathan completed his Ph.D. in Sociology at Harvard University, chaired by Michèle Lamont, in 2011. He also holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Kansas State University.
Nathan’s research is in the area of social inequality, culture, and health. In particular, he is interested in understanding the social determinants of drug use and contraceptive use among the urban poor. In the United States, risky health behaviour among the poor has been portrayed as a pathological “culture of poverty,” in which the poor lack mainstream goals and values. Nathan’s research calls this traditional portrayal into question. Instead, he finds that risky behaviour arises out of a strong sense of physical insecurity, or the fear that “tomorrow is never promised.” Nevertheless, he also finds that the urban poor find hope through religion, romantic relationships, fatherhood, and through the pursuit of dream careers in the arts and athletics. While working as a Global Scholar, Nathan will examine how social resilience can be further fostered under conditions of adversity, as well as how the health of populations can be better understood by examining citizens’ own sense of social inclusion.
