School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

“Policymakers, NGO activists, and businesspeople in developing countries are increasingly aware of the importance of good data and rigorous evidence for designing and choosing policies and projects — and implementing them effectively,” says Esther Duflo, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics.

MIT announces MITx MicroMasters program in development economics, with path to full master’s degree

Institute to offer its first “blended-only” master’s program, in data, economics, and development policy.

December 5, 2016

“We make sense of the world through stories, and we remember the world through experience. That’s how it works as human beings. I am telling a story and making people live an experience at the same time,” says MIT Visiting Artist Karim Ben Khelifa.

Face to face with "The Enemy"

Visiting Artist Karim Ben Khelifa creates immersive experiences using virtual and augmented reality to humanize soldiers in global conflicts.

December 2, 2016

Clockwise from top left: Alix de Monts ’14, senior Anita Liu, senior Melody Liu, and senior Lisa Ho have been selected as Schwarzman Scholars.

Four MIT students named 2017 Schwarzman Scholars

Alix de Monts, Lisa Ho, Anita Liu, and Melody Liu will study for one year at Tsinghua University in China.

December 2, 2016

Mongolian anthropologist Manduhai Buyandelger’s career path took shape when she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the U.S. This allowed her to start graduate school at Harvard, where scholars such as Nicola di Cosmo and Michael Herzfeld took note of her remarkable linguistic range — Buyandelger could then do research in traditional and contemporary Mongolian, Russian, English, and a...

Steppe by steppe

Mongolian anthropologist Manduhai Buyandelger studies a society in transition.

November 30, 2016

Members of the MITili and pK-12 Action Group convene to discuss learning and research directions.

Enhancing education from pre-K to MIT and beyond

Two new initiatives take an in-depth look at learning.

November 23, 2016

On Nov. 17, the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, led by Fred Harris, delivered Mark Harvey’s composition “No Walls,” an anthem to inclusiveness inspired by Duke Ellington’s credo of living and making music “beyond category.”

“Uniting through Voice and Song” event celebrates values that connect the MIT community

November 22, 2016

At forum, MIT community tackles tough ethical questions of climate change

Why is it so hard for human beings to address climate change? What can motivate effective action?

November 21, 2016

Lauren Uhr: a brain researcher motivated by personal experience

MIT senior studies cognitive science and medicine from the vantage point of a person with dyslexia.

November 21, 2016

Rothschild’s great-grandfather, David (standing, third from left), is pictured here before the war with his siblings and father Joseph. During the Holocaust, David was imprisoned at Buchenwald, and several siblings were killed or imprisoned, including Joseph, who was murdered at Auschwitz.

The courage to dissent

For graduate student Amanda Rothschild, political science meets personal history in her studies of how the United States responds to genocide.

November 17, 2016

Seeking to inform India’s climate policy choices

Tata Center graduate fellow Arun Singh shares energy-economic modeling research at UN Climate Change Conference.

November 16, 2016

“State and local governments can serve as laboratories of innovation and test out new approaches to tackling challenging social problems,” says Mary Ann Bates, deputy director of J-PAL North America.

State and local governments invited to apply for funding, support on pressing policy challenges

Selected governments will partner with MIT's J-PAL North America to test which programs work, which work best, and why.

November 15, 2016

Top row: Sana Aiyar, Catherine Clark, Sasha Costanza-Chock. Middle row, Amy Finkelstein, Deborah Fitzgerald, Daniel Hidalgo. Bottom row: Justin Khoo, Bradford Skow, Craig Wilder

Nine SHASS faculty members awarded named professorships

Honored positions afford faculty additional support for research.

November 10, 2016

My Sister's Keeper seeks to support black women students at MIT, through social, professional, and mentoring relationships. From left to right: Nikahya Etienne, Naomi Dereje, Annie Abay, Bettina Arkhurst, and Kristina Hill.

My Sister's Keeper builds community for black women students at MIT

New organization aims to increase connections, mentoring, and success.

November 10, 2016

The term “wild,” is receiving renewed attention from academics and popular authors alike. MIT historian Harriet Ritvo notes that even those who are critical of the term employ it frequently, and that most of us remain uncertain of the word's conceptual parameters.

3Q: Historian Harriet Ritvo on what it means to be "wild"

Scientists, social scientists, and humanists heed the call of the wild at MIT workshop.

November 4, 2016

MIT Football tackles diversity and inclusion conversations

Players’ protest begins wave of discussion.