In postcolonial Ghana, a fresh start but not a blank slate
A new study of the country’s bureaucracy shows the challenges of state-building at the moment of independence.
Reinforcing the value of human understanding at MIT
During the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences’ 75th Anniversary Symposium, President Sally Kornbluth said “MIT has never needed your particular insight and guidance more than we do now.”
Q&A: How AI came to model the “messy” human mind
Assistant Professor Benjamin Lindquist studies how engineers deliberately injected randomness into early AI, giving rise to deep-learning models that sometimes hallucinate.
Discovering the value of humanistic inquiry
Students in MIT’s Concourse program delve deeply into the human condition, debate challenging questions, and learn to develop judgment about issues that can’t be quantified.
Stories from the steel mills: A model for sharing workers’ histories
MIT anthropologist Chris Walley developed a project for people in Southeast Chicago to tell their histories — an approach any community can adopt.
The mystery of the Chinese tea chest label
MIT historian Tristan Brown uncovers the true origins of an artifact once thought to be a relic of the Boston Tea Party.
Then and now: How MIT Lincoln Laboratory has served as a driving force in national security innovation
Members of the laboratory community reflect on technology impacts that shaped the United States and the world over the past 75 years.
Past is prologue for geopolitical developments
DUSP Associate Professor Jason Jackson’s latest book compares how two countries chose radically different paths to economic independence.
How a medical database developed at MIT evolved into a global standard of data-sharing
The visionary PhysioNet platform launched 25 years ago, based on a system developed at MIT in the 1970s. It has become one of the most comprehensive biomedical and clinical data repositories in existence.
Lerna Ekmekcioglu named head of MIT’s History Section
A faculty member since 2011, Ekmekcioglu examines how communities survive, adapt, remember, and make claims on justice under difficult political conditions.
The long history of vaccine hesitancy
Thomas Levenson’s new book shows how arguments against vaccination reach back to the beginning of the technology itself.
MIT marks first Robert R. Taylor Day with Tuskegee University
A day of conversations and archival access at the MIT Museum reflects an ongoing exchange rooted in the work and ideas of the Institute’s first Black graduate.
The tech revolution that wasn’t
Associate Professor Dwai Banerjee’s new book examines the visionaries who wanted to turn India into a world power at making computers.
How morality and ethics shaped India’s economic development
A book by Associate Professor Jason Jackson explores how policymakers moved past post-colonial India to support its own captains of industry.
Q&A: MIT SHASS and the future of education in the age of AI
As the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences marks 75 years, Dean Agustín Rayo reflects on how AI is reshaping higher education and why SHASS disciplines continue to be central to MIT’s mission.