The Independent Activities Period (IAP), MIT's special January term, offers students, faculty and staff the opportunity to take or teach classes in areas they might not normally have time to explore, such as playwriting, holography, weather forecasting or integrated chemical engineering. Some of these classes are for non-credit activities, others are for-credit courses.
Even the blizzard the weekend of Jan. 22 didn't stop the 36th IAP. Only a few classes reported cancellations, according to Michael Bergren, assistant dean of academic and research initiatives. This year, there were 680 non-credit activities offered during IAP, more than in past years, and close to 100 for-credit courses.
News Office reporters and photographers offer an IAP sampler listed at right.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 2, 2005 (download PDF).
