I am an Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. I am a cultural and comparative‐historical sociologist whose work brings questions of moral belief into conversation with civil‐society organizations and the ways we create knowledge.
My most recent book, co-authored with Samuel D. Stabler, is called Moral Minefields: How Sociologists Debate Good Research (University of Chicago Press, 2023). This book examines the frameworks scholars develop to navigate controversial research topics and the debates those choices spark. My first book, Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector (University of Chicago Press, 2020), traces the origins and rise of modern humanitarian aid through deep archival work at the International Committee of the Red Cross. I am also co-editor of the Handbook of the Sociology of Morality, vol. 2 with Steven Hitlin and Aliza Luft (Springer, 2023, introduction available here).
I’m currently working on three new book projects. The first investigates recent campus debates over claims of harm by exploring how people make—and challenge—public statements about suffering wrongdoing in academic settings. By analyzing speeches, press releases, protests, and grievances, I show how credibility is built or undermined and how moral vocabularies shape whose voices count. My second project is a book on the Sociology of Morality (under contract with Polity Press), mapping the field through its core philosophical dilemmas and tracing how diverse sociological approaches address questions of justice, responsibility, and human flourishing. Finally, I’m working on a study of how sociologists build and contest their discipline’s canon, using case studies of key figures to reveal how moral and intellectual repertoires influence who is remembered and why (with Samuel D. Stabler).
My articles have appeared in journals such as Sociological Theory and Theory & Society. My work has received distinction from the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action and from several American Sociological Association sections—Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity; Comparative‐Historical Sociology; Global and Transnational Sociology; and Science, Knowledge, and Technology. Since 2024. I have served as Treasurer of the Social Science History Association, and in 2025–26 I will chair the ASA Section on Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity.
You can read here about my research and teaching. Contact me at shai.dromi@g.harvard.edu, and follow me at @DromiShai.
Photo credit: Mira Whiting Photography.
