Timothy P. McCarthy

Adjunct Lecturer on Public Policy
Program Director
Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
Office Address
Rubenstein-206
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 40
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-384-9023
Fax: 617-495-2179
Email: Timothy_McCarthy@hks.harvard.edu
Assistant
Veronica McClure (617-495-4725)
Timothy McCarthy

Profile

Timothy Patrick McCarthyis Lecturer on History and Literature, Adjunct Lecturer on Public Policy, and Director of the Human Rights and Social Movements Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He also teaches in the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. An historian of social movements, Dr. McCarthy graduated with honors from Harvard College and received his Ph.D. in History from Columbia University, where he completed his dissertation under the direction of Eric Foner. Dr. McCarthy's research agenda focuses on the relationship between human rights and social movements in three main areas: race relations and civil rights; LGBT politics, policy, and advocacy; and modern-day slavery and human trafficking. At the Carr Center, he runs a biweekly study group on Human Rights and Social Movements, and co-chairs, with Christina Bain, the Regional Working Group on Modern-Day Slavery and Human Trafficking. He has published two books, The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the American Radical Tradition (New Press, 2003) and Prophets of Protest: Reconsidering the History of American Abolitionism (New Press, 2006), and his third book, Protest Nation: The Radical Roots of Modern America, is forthcoming from the New Press in 2010. He is also currently at work on several other book projects. His essays and reviews have appeared in The Boston Globe, Journal of American History, In These Times, Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Souls, Journal for the Study of Radicalism, Folha, and The Nation, and he is a regular contributor to radio, web, and other media outlets. A popular and award-winning teacher and advisor, Dr. McCarthy has receivedHarvard's Stephen Botein Prize for Outstanding Teaching (2000), Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize for Excellence in Senior Thesis Advising (2002, 2009), John R. Marquand Award for Exceptional Advising and Counseling (2003), Derek Bok Certificate of Distinction in Teaching (2006, 2007, 2008), and also the Special Commendation for Excellence in Teaching at the Harvard Kennedy School (2009). Dr. McCarthy is also a nationally known educator and public servant. Since 2002, he has served as Academic Director of the Boston Clemente Course in the Humanities, a multi-disciplinary college course offered free of charge to low-income adults through the Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester, MA. As founding director of Harvard's Alternative Spring Break Church Rebuilding Project, he has spent the last decade taking groups of students down South to rebuild black churches that have been burned in arson attacks. In 2007, he received the Humble Servant Award from the National Coalition for Burned Churches for his commitment to civil rights and religious tolerance. An outspoken and respected leader in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, Dr. McCarthy was a founding member of Barack Obama's National LGBT Leadership Council, serves on the Board of the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus, and, in 2009, delivered Harvard's prestigious Nicholas Papadopoulos Lecture, entitled "Stonewall's Children: Life, Loss, and Love after Liberation." He lectures widely on topics ranging from history and literature to politics and human rights.

Courses

Fall

Spr Mod3

Spr Mod4

Media Expertise

Timothy McCarthy welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.