School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Officers surround honorable guest Air Force General Darren W. McDew (at center) and MIT President Rafael L. Reif during the 2017 commissioning ceremony for the MIT’s Reserve Officers Training Corps. More than 12,000 officers have been commissioned from MIT since the program’s origin, and more than 150 have reached the rank of general or admiral.

After MIT, new officers will serve their country

Following their MIT studies, graduates in MIT’s Reserve Officer Training Corps set off on new challenges in the U.S. military.

June 16, 2017

Course 21A.157 (The Meaning of Life), examines how a variety of cultural traditions approach the question of how to live with purpose. Here Brother David Vryhof explains the beliefs followed by brothers at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a monastery on Memorial Drive.

In search of a meaningful life

Popular MIT anthropology course offers contemplation and dialogue on life's big questions.

June 15, 2017

A new study by an MIT-based team of economists has developed a novel way of evaluating Value-Added Models (VAMs), which assess teachers and schools.

Testing the metrics

MIT researchers refine yardstick for measuring schools and teachers.

June 14, 2017

Breaking through gridlock: Productive conversations in a polarized world

A Mens et Manus America conversation with Jason Jay reveals research on how to have meaningful conversations with people holding opposing viewpoints.

June 5, 2017

PhD student Danielle Olson believes we can make digital information-sharing more natural and interpersonal, by creating immersive media to better understand each other’s feelings and backgrounds.

Danielle Olson: Building empathy through computer science and art

CSAIL PhD student creates immersive media to help users understand each other’s backgrounds and feelings.

May 30, 2017

Lee Perlman (in maroon shirt) lectures on the philosophy of love at MIT. Perlman also teaches classes at Massachusetts prisons with a mix of both MIT students and prison inmates.

Breaking down walls between the ivory tower and prison

The MIT Prison Initiative provides an academic framework for undergraduates and local inmates to explore the human condition.

May 24, 2017

Associate professor of political science Vipin Narang specializes in nuclear security, proliferation, and deterrence.

Vipin Narang: On the brinkmanship beat

Department of Political Science assistant professor studies the strategic use of nuclear force as global tensions threaten to reach the boiling point.

May 24, 2017

"It is remarkable that we do not measure the costs of war in any meaningful way," says John Tirman, executive director and principal research scientist of the MIT Center for International Studies. "I suggest that Congress establish a conflict impact assessment during or after each war to bring home the true costs of armed conflict."

3 Questions: How political science contributes to national policies on immigration and military conflict

Political theorist John Tirman discusses immigration and identity, and measuring the true costs of war.

May 22, 2017

At a recent MIT Mens et Manus America event, scholars presented political science and sociological research about the impact of rumors, falsehoods, and misinformation on America's political process.

Mens et Manus America examines the politics of misinformation

Adam Berinsky and Ezra Zuckerman Sivan present research on rumors and falsehoods in U.S. politics.

May 22, 2017

Left to right: Matthew Nicolai, Dallace Francis, and Christian Argenti, MIT seniors in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and members of the fraternity Delta Kappa Epsom, took the MIT History seminar, People and Other Animals, together.

Entering the animal world

In a history seminar, engineering students explore shifting ideas about animal intelligence and human uses of animals throughout the ages.

May 19, 2017

MISTI participant Andrei Ivanov '16 is pictured with the city of Grenoble, France, in the background.

"Mens et manus" goes global

MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives program will send students to six continents this summer.

May 17, 2017

Left to right: Thomas Ermacora, futurist, urbanist and humanitarian; Hala Fadel MBA ’01, founder and chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Pan-Arab region; Admir Masic, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT; Lara Stein, MIT ReACT development director; and Riccardo Sabatini, scientist and entrepreneur.

MIT to spur global education hub for displaced populations and refugees

The Refugee ACTion Hub (ReACT) will create tailored learning experiences and spark collaboration.

May 16, 2017

“I realized that I didn’t come to MIT because it was the best engineering school, but because it was the best place to discover what I was truly passionate about,” MIT senior Raul Boquin says.

Raul Boquin: Working toward high-quality education for all

MIT senior envisions opportunities for “every person of the world who wants to learn something.”

May 16, 2017

"The new frontier is learning how to design the relationships between people, robots, and infrastructure," says David Mindell, the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, and a professor of aeronautics and astronautics. "We need new sensors, new software, new ways of architecting systems."

Q&A: On the future of human-centered robotics

Professor David Mindell, who researches the interaction between automation and human behavior, discusses the interdependence of people, robots, and infrastructure.

May 15, 2017

Text "MISTI Global Seed Funds" with url below atop circle design background

MISTI faculty funds: 2017-18 call for proposals

MISTI Global Seed Funds support MIT’s global engagement by promoting collaborations between MIT faculty members and their counterparts abroad.