Humanities

Bergquist was attracted to MIT for her doctoral studies because it integrated the study of environmental problems with urban studies, but also placed a strong emphasis on political science.

Environmental regulation in a polarized culture

Doctoral student Parrish Bergquist investigates how politics affects environmental decision-making.

July 24, 2018

“I really wanted people to think of the satellite not only as this technology that’s floating around out there in orbit, but as a machine that plays a structuring role in our everyday lives,” says Lisa Parks, a professor in MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing program.

Contemplating the eyes in the sky

Media studies scholar Lisa Parks examines the way satellites and other aerial technologies have changed society.

July 20, 2018

“Innovation is born of openness to futures that are not easily imaginable," says Caley Horan, assistant professor of history. "History reminds us that many ideas, institutions, and organizational structures that now seem natural and inevitable did not always exist. In doing so, it throws open the door to boundless possibility.”

3 Questions: Historian Caley Horan on the rise of private insurance in the U.S.

Assistant professor explores how risk sharing and mutual aid shifted to individual forms of protection.

July 3, 2018

Phi Beta Kappa inductee Michael Feffer '18 (center) with members of his family

MIT chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society inducts 77 students from the Class of 2018

June 26, 2018

“People usually think MIT is exclusively focused on STEM research," says PhD student Elena Sobrino. "I saw this program, HASTS, as a way to be in conversation with physical or biological scientists, as a social scientist myself.”

Discovering hidden stories in the Flint water crisis

Graduate student Elena Sobrino looks beyond the headlines to study interactions between the city’s people and institutions.

June 24, 2018

“If you’re really interested in understanding why we should be doing things about climate change,” says senior Saleem Aldajani, “this class prepares you to talk about the issue coherently at conferences, or with specialists, and make an insightful conclusion.”

The moral calculus of climate change

In a “mathy” philosophy class, students explore the risks, outcomes, and ethical implications of living in a warming world.

June 4, 2018

“One of things historians do," says MIT Associate Professor Tanalís Padilla (top right), "is analyze how systems of power are constructed — state power, corporate power, racist power — and what role different institutions play in that.” Clockwise from upper left: Craig Steven Wilder, Padilla, Malick Ghachem, Lerna Ekmekçioğlu.

The task of history

At community dialogue, MIT historians discuss the power of historical knowledge to make a better world.

May 22, 2018

“Realizing that I could leverage my technical background in computer science to drive innovation in the theater arts motivated me to be part of the CS+HASS-SuperUROP,” says Nitah Nyang’ate Onsongo. “I hope to gain a better understanding of the scope of the communication breakdown within the theater field and help revolutionize how theater is received by society.”

CS+HASS SuperUROP debuts with nine research projects

In yearlong program, MIT students apply computer science to humanities, arts, and social science research.

May 15, 2018

Alan Lightman has a new book coming out this month, titled “Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine.”

3Q: Alan Lightman on science, religion, and our yearning for absolute knowledge

New book, “Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine,” examines the tensions between belief and knowing.

April 27, 2018

“My MIT education has shown me that in a world so filled with technology we have to make sure that we make room for humanity," says Ryan Robinson '17. "From science to humanities, technology to business, and invention to exposure, every human action has a human effect. Technology, at its greatest, begins and ends at our common humanity.”

From blank verse to blockchain

Ryan Robinson '17 launched his startup with skills from both the humanities and engineering.

April 19, 2018

In the 13th district, the students discovered "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité," a building-mural designed by the artist Shepard Fairey, who gifted it to Paris after the attacks of 2015.

Outstanding MIT students of French explore "Paris et la rue"

In the January Scholars in France program, students discover behind-the-scenes Paris and the city's storied streets.

March 5, 2018

William Deringer of STS has his first book coming out in February about how quantitative economic arguments gained hold in the modern world.

When numbers started counting

New book by MIT assistant professor chronicles the birth of statistical arguments in public debate.

February 5, 2018

How Haiti helps us think differently about history

MIT historian Malick Ghachem gets readers and students to look anew at the Atlantic world.

December 5, 2017

Professor Lisa Parks is the co-editor of “Life in the Age of Drone Warfare,” published by Duke University Press.

3 Questions: Lisa Parks on drones, warfare, and the media

MIT media studies professor discusses new essay collection analyzing the impact of drones.

November 16, 2017

Google has teamed with Michel DeGraff's Kreyòl-based STEM education project in Haiti, to add scientific and technical terms to the Kreyòl module of Google Translate.

MIT-Haiti, Google team up to boost education in Kreyòl

Institute-led effort to create STEM lexicon is now available for global translation.

October 30, 2017

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