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Junior Alex Cuellar with his constructed language. The chalkboard reads: "I can speak Oafal."

How to build a language

MIT students are inventing constructed languages — or “conlangs” — in a class that uses linguistics to supply the building blocks.

December 17, 2019

“MIT is the best place to be an anthropologist studying issues of science and technology," says Timothy Loh, a sophomore in the HASTS PhD program. "It’s a place where we’re able to think deeply and critically about how scientific knowledge and authority is constructed."

Uncovering the role of technology and medicine in deaf and signing worlds

Timothy Loh, a HASTS program doctoral student studying deafness, sign language, and technology, is a sociocultural and medical anthropologist-in-training.

December 5, 2019

Prathima Muniyappa (with camera) and other class members examining a student demo. In studying various ambiguous images and works, students discover how emotional content and prior experiences contribute to what we think we see.

The technology of enchantment

In a new anthropology and studio art course, MIT students investigate the human dimensions of interacting with technologies.

November 7, 2019

"The story here is not just about whether people are legally allowed to vote," says Ariel White, "but about whether they are practically able to vote, whether they know they're allowed to vote, and whether they think they have any reason to do so."

3 Questions: Ariel White on the impact of incarceration on voting

The political consequence of even short jail terms is disproportionately pushing African-American voters out of the electorate.

October 28, 2019

Computing and artificial intelligence: Humanistic perspectives from MIT

How the humanities, arts, and social science fields can help shape the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing — and benefit from advanced computing.

September 24, 2019

"Scientists are often motivated by factors other than wages,” says Carolyn Stein, "but many insights from labor economics still help us understand how the field of science functions. Incentive and career concerns still matter. And risk is a big concern.”

Meet Carolyn Stein: Researching the economics of science

MIT PhD student explores the impact of scientists being "scooped" when a competing research team publishes results first, a concern for many disciplines.

September 23, 2019

'It's not so much that political discussion on TV used to be so much better than it is today," says MIT media historian Heather Hendershot, "but that there used to be one show that really nailed the best way to discuss politics, and now there are (arguably) no such shows."

3 Questions: Heather Hendershot on the state of US political discourse

Media historian and expert on conservatism considers the end of rational dialog.

August 20, 2019

"The efficacy and success of medical advances must always be evaluated within a larger social context,” says Ankita Reddy ’19, who aims to be a physician-anthropologist. “In order to do the most good for individual patients and to slow the spread of disease, our interventions need to take into consideration the public health capacity of communities as well as local ideas of health and sickne...

Ankita Reddy ’19 blends anthropology and biology to improve public health

Recent graduate says culturally-aware approaches lead to more-effective medical interventions.

July 3, 2019

"As an engineer and historian, I’ve been 'bilingual' my entire career,” says David Mindell, the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; professor of aeronautics and astronautics; and co-founder and CEO of Humatics Corporation. “Dual competence is a good model for undergraduates at MIT as well."

3Q: David Mindell on his vision for human-centered robotics

Engineer and historian discusses how the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing might integrate technical and humanistic research and education.

June 18, 2019

Dwaipayan Banerjee says he will endeavor to answer the question: What is lost when a handful of U.S.-based corporations seek to determine hierarchies of technology work and control how its social benefits are globally distributed?

Dwaipayan Banerjee receives 2019 Levitan Prize in the Humanities

Award will support research for "A Counter History of Computing in India."

June 10, 2019

MIT grad student Steven Gonzalez is showing that the cloud is neither distant nor ephemeral: It’s a massive system, ubiquitous in daily life, that contains huge amounts of energy, has the potential for environmental disaster, and is operated by an insular community of expert technicians.

Communities in the cloud

PhD student Steven Gonzalez studies cloud computing with the eye of an anthropologist.

June 5, 2019

"This historic gathering brought leaders and stakeholders in anthropological knowledge-sharing into the same room to compare notes,” said Heather Paxson, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Anthropology, and interim head of Anthropology at MIT. “We emerged with the outline of a pilot project to move scholarly journals to Open Access publishing, at a disciplinary scale."

Q&A: Heather Paxson on a new model for open-access publishing in anthropology

Interim head of MIT Anthropology explains the plan's vision and challenges, plus progress made at an historic MIT workshop.

May 10, 2019

Of students like MIT-Israel intern Seji Engelkemier, shown in Ein Avdat, Faculty Director Eran Ben-Joseph says: "MIT-Israel students come back with both a deep understanding of the region while taking their course of study to the next level. Both aspects of their Israel experience are invaluable, and they take them with them far beyond their time at MIT."

Cornerstone donation sparks bright future for MISTI MIT-Israel program

Arthur Samberg '62 donates $1 million to sustain the program for years to come.

May 9, 2019

Will Deringer examines the history of human efforts to use statistics to influence opinions and shape policy. “Many MIT students will likely be practitioners in the data field,” the assistant professor says, “so I want to encourage them to think about issues, such as: Why do we invest so much trust in numbers, and what are the consequences for who we are?”

The quest to understand human society scientifically

In STS.047 (Quantifying People), MIT students explore the history of science from the 17th century to the present, through the eyes of statisticians and sociologists.

April 30, 2019

First-year students Ifeoluwapo Ademolu-Odeneye (left) and Keith Murray at work in the MIT Digital Humanities Lab.

MIT Program in Digital Humanities launches with $1.3 million Mellon Foundation grant

Among the program's offerings, the Digital Humanities Lab applies computational tools to humanistic research — and builds a community fluent in both languages.

April 17, 2019

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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