![“It really matters how adults think and talk about what it means to be a child,” says literature professor Marah Gubar, noting that childhood “is not just biological; it’s also a social and cultural matter, so it changes over time, across cultures, and in different [social] classes.”](/sites/default/files/styles/term_page__news_article/public/images/201607/MIT-Marah-Gubar-A1-press.jpg?itok=rU11JFzx)
Your child, the literary talent
Literature professor Marah Gubar studies the creative powers of kids.
Department
Literature
Powered by literature on her way toward an MD
Senior Cara Lai cites MIT Literature studies as key to her preparation for medical practice.
Julie Shah, Sandy Alexandre receive campus houseteam appointments
Shah named head of house after serving as Sidney Pacific associate housemaster; Alexandre joins East Campus as associate head of house.
Celebrating the "Pleasures of Poetry" at MIT
Now in its 20th season, a popular poetry series provides the MIT community with new voices and verbal harmonies — and a window into MIT's varied poetry offerings.
Podcast by Shante Stowell '15 wins American Society for Engineering Education diversity contest
Recent graduate honored for her unique audio piece, crafted at MIT, encouraging self-reflection on race.
Hundreds of MIT students explore fields at the 2015 TOUR de SHASS
Academic expo connects students with MIT-SHASS faculty and courses.
Four professors named 2015 MacVicar Fellows
Bahr, Drennan, Gibson, and Sive receive the Institute’s highest undergraduate teaching award.
MIT SHASS launches the Diversity Predoctoral Fellowship
Three outstanding PhD students have been invited to study at MIT for the fellowship's inaugural year.
Said and Done for October 2014
Digest of the MIT humanities, arts, and social sciences features a Nobel Prize, a new professorship in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, three new SHASS websites, and more.
Inspired readings
Meet MIT professor Arthur Bahr, a former figure skater who makes medieval literature come alive.
Wyn Kelley sails on the Charles W. Morgan
MIT Melville scholar travels on the last surviving U.S. whaleship from Melville's era.
Film, form, and feeling
MIT professor’s new book studies formal properties of movies and the structure of our emotions.