Political science

MIT senior Rasheed Auguste’s parents emigrated from Haiti to Boston as teenagers and completed master’s degrees in the U.S. “When I was born, the standard was, ‘we have master’s degrees; a PhD is the next step for this next generation.’ That was always the bar,” says Auguste. “It just so happens I got lucky. I actually do want this PhD that was prescribed from birth.”

Nuclear engineering student advocates for change on campus and Capitol Hill

Senior Rasheed Auguste is fueled by passions for science, policy, and creating a more inclusive MIT.

December 7, 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

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

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

“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

William Bonvillian, Director of the MIT Washington Office.

3Q: William Bonvillian on connecting Cambridge and Capitol Hill

Through its Washington Office, MIT continues its long history of engagement on national science and technology policy.

November 3, 2016

First Row: (left to right) Alberto Abadie, Isaiah Andrews, Dwaipayan Banerjee, Claire Conceison. Second Row: (left to right) Drew Fudenberg, Paul Roquet, Tamar Schapiro, Ariel White.

New faculty in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

SHASS welcomes eight new faculty members for 2016.

November 2, 2016

“I don't think you can hack the election,” says MIT political scientist Charles Stewart III. The distributed nature of America's voting system is a key reason why rigging the election is not really possible. But also, observers are stationed in every polling place; ballots are counted in public, post-election audits spot-check results; and machines that record and count ballots are all offline...

How healthy is the U.S. voting system?

Professor Charles Stewart III explains why the U.S. electoral system is strong and how MIT research is making the voting process even more seamless.

October 20, 2016

With support from the International Policy Lab, the Trancik Lab compiled a report on the link between emissions cuts and energy technology cost reductions ahead of the 2015 UN climate conference. It was presented at the White House and helped to inform discussions in Paris on strengthening commitments to reduce emissions every five years. Pictured: (left to right) Patrick Brown, Magdalena Klemun, ...

International Policy Lab issues second annual call for proposals to faculty and researchers

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

October 19, 2016

Electing to vote — or not

Assistant Professor Ariel White is looking to understanding how government, policies, and people affect voting behavior.

October 14, 2016

Fotini Christia (left), associate professor of political science; and Ali Jadbabaie, the JR East Professor of Engineering.

3Q: Fotini Christia and Ali Jadbabaie on researching the dynamics of sociopolitcal change

MIT faculty discuss how a multidisciplinary, multi-university collaboration helps us understand the mechanics of social and political change.

October 14, 2016

President Barack Obama speaks with the Office of Science and Technology Policy Social and Behavioral Sciences team in the Oval Office.

White House releases report on applying behavioral science to government policy

October 13, 2016

Analyzing the 2016 election: Insights from 12 MIT scholars

Experts from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences weigh in on topics from polling to rhetoric to individual campaign issues.

October 12, 2016

Lourdes Melgar SM '88, PhD '92 named a Wilhelm Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies

Mexico's former deputy secretary of energy for hydrocarbons will write on Mexican energy reform and research women’s roles in political and social transformation.

September 23, 2016

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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