School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

MIT Campaign for a Better World ends FY17 with $3.6 billion

The Institute finished the fiscal year with $589 million in new gifts and pledges, MIT’s largest annual fundraising total to date.

October 26, 2017

Singer and actress Audra McDonald, the 2018 recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT, has won six Tony Awards.

Audra McDonald receives 2018 McDermott Award

The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT includes a $100,000 prize, artist residency, gala, and public program at the Institute.

October 26, 2017

The non-profit Young 1ove designed a course for Botswana schools called “No Sugar” that teaches young girls the high likelihood of contracting HIV from older men called "sugar daddies." Classes begin with ice breakers, such as singing and dancing exercises (shown here). The remainder of the class teaches students risk factors of sugar daddies and how to seek help. The course has reached more t...

Course helps girls in Botswana avoid HIV and “sugar daddies”

Youth-to-youth program teaches girls about the increased odds of contracting HIV from older men.

October 25, 2017

Left to right: Rania Ghosn, Rosalind Williams, and Caroline Jones joined guest lecturer Imre Szeman for a panel discussion after his talk on ways to shift from “petroculture.”

Energy transition through aesthetics and culture

MIT Energy Initiative seminar examines the role of the humanities, design, and aesthetics in catalyzing a fairer, more diverse energy future.

October 24, 2017

More than 1,000 MIT alumni and friends celebrated the MIT Campaign for a Better World at the Boch Center Wang Theatre in downtown Boston on Sept. 28.

The Better World Tour comes home to Boston

Alumni and friends gather at the Boch Center Wang Theatre to celebrate the vibrant MIT community and the Institute's ambitious dreams for a better world.

October 20, 2017

Jing Wang (bottom left), director of the MIT New Media Action Lab, facilitates a civic hackathon in collaboration with Tencent Cloud developers in Shenzhen, China. Wang and her nonprofit, NGO2.0, work to bridge the digital gap to improve social welfare for underserved populations in rural and urban China.

Helping NGOs make impacts across China

Cultural studies scholar Jing Wang, director of the New Media Action Lab, advances philanthropic solutions to the digital divide.

October 18, 2017

“I found diaries from 7th grade where I asked a whole stream of questions about the universe and the ‘edge of the universe’ and its expansion,” says senior Talia Weiss.

Bridging the science-policy divide

For MIT senior Talia Weiss, physics and theater have provided a springboard for new interests in political science.

October 17, 2017

With International Policy Lab support, MIT Associate Professor Noelle Selin (third from left) led a delegation of MIT researchers to the first conference on the Minamata Convention on Mercury. There, the team disseminated mercury science policy briefs developed with IPL support. The team members, as pictured here: (l-r) Boston University Associate Professor Henrik Selin, Dartmouth College Research...

International Policy Lab issues new call for proposals

The IPL provides funding and policy outreach support to help MIT faculty and researchers connect with the policy world.

October 12, 2017

Left to right: Vipin Narang, associate professor of political science and a member of the Security Studies Program; Jim Walsh, senior research associate at the Security Studies Program; and Taylor Fravel, associate professor of political science, a member of the Security Studies Program, and acting director of the MIT Center for International Studies.

Nuclear and present danger

MIT security experts discuss how to lower tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

October 4, 2017

Ketian Zhang, the daughter of Chinese Communist Party officials, studies Chinese foreign policy at MIT from a unique dual perspective.

Probing the behavior of an international bully

Political science doctoral student Ketian Zhang sheds light on China's use of coercion in foreign policy, hoping to span a deep divide.

October 4, 2017

MIT philosophy professor Kieran Setiya has a new book, “Midlife: A Philosophical Guide,” published by Princeton University Press. In it, he examines the problems of middle-aged happiness, reaches some unusual conclusions — he thinks we should embrace our regrets — and explores how philosophy can help people find peace of mind.

How philosophy can solve your midlife crisis

MIT professor Kieran Setiya’s book “Midlife” aims to smooth out the rocky road of middle age.

October 2, 2017

Winners of the 2017 Better World Media Contest: At left, Max Freitas and his D-Lab project partner Hope Chen (pictured, with patient) developed and field tested prosthetics with Rise Legs through MIT-India. Right: Dou Dou '17 brought over 80 Israeli and Palestinian high school students together by teaching them computer science and entrepreneurship through MIT-MEET.

Tackling the world’s challenges in the field

MISTI media contest showcases MIT students working to build a better world.

October 2, 2017

MIT-France student intern Annie Dai (seated) spent a summer at Plume Labs.

Clearing the air

At Plume Labs in Paris, MIT-France interns take on an invisible threat by helping to develop a wearable device that tracks indoor and outdoor air quality.

September 29, 2017

“The new museum will be an experimental place," says John Durant, director of the MIT Museum and a faculty member of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. "We are committed to the idea that the MIT Museum can operate along the same principles as the Institute as a whole. We want to try new ideas, test them, and report our findings.”

John Durant plans a new era for the MIT Museum

A new purpose-built museum will be an experimental place for wider conversations.

September 27, 2017

“I would say that a surprisingly large number of my students at MIT are juniors and seniors, and they often say to me, ‘Oh, I wish I had found out about anthropology sooner,’” anthropologist Graham Jones remarks. “And I say, ‘Oh the same thing happened to me in college.’ Not many people come to college knowing what anthropology is.”

Magic, a microcosm of modern culture

Anthropologist Graham Jones has turned a fascination with magic into a career.

September 25, 2017

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