Improving the workplace of the future
The Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building
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Without human understanding, there is no understanding. We are home to scholars and artists doing transformative work in fields vital to addressing the world’s most important challenges. Our faculty develop the values, vision, and ethical compass of tomorrow’s leaders.
Our faculty are among the world’s leading experts in their fields. Here you’ll find a selection of recent publications from SHASS scholars.
Q&A: How folk ballads explain the world
Ruth Perry, MIT’s Ann Fetter Friedlaender Professor of Humanities, Emerita, wrote a book profiling Scotswoman Anna Gordon, who preserved and transmitted precious popular ballads and national traditions. “It’s fascinating how the culture was transmitted, how intellectually rich that society was, how much there is to examine in Scottish culture and society of the 18th century,” Perry says.
Helping K-12 schools navigate the complex world of AI
MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab, led by Associate Professor Justin Reich, is working to help K-12 educators, students, policymakers, and others by listening to and sharing their stories. “We’re trying to advocate for an ethos of humility as we examine AI in schools,” he says.
Many MIT undergraduates major or minor in a SHASS discipline, often paired with studies in STEM. Class of 2025 graduates share how a multidisciplinary education prepared them to take on the world’s greatest challenges.
Rachel Loh
Computer Science and Engineering major
Music major
Business Analytics minor
“Because MIT values a well-rounded education that includes both science and humanities, I have been able to continue pursuing my passion for music.”
Ari Peró
Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science major
Music major
“I quickly immersed myself in the Institute’s unique opportunities for exploring diverse musical traditions and techniques, fostering a profound appreciation for the role of music in fostering community and promoting cultural understanding.”
Music & Theater Arts gives students the opportunity to explore these disciplines as artistic practices and as cultural, intellectual, and personal avenues of inquiry and discovery.
Music and technology intertwined
Graduate program in music technology and computation brings new dimension to interdisciplinary offerings.
Digital instruments for musical togetherness
Engineering graduate student Joseph Ntaimo ’23 took music classes, played in the MIT Symphony Orchestra, and became a respected DJ on campus, routinely mixing pop songs with lesser-known international genres.
Broadening student minds
If you want to make the world a better place, you need to understand how it works. SHASS plays an essential role at MIT, ensuring our students have a deep understanding of the human implications of the world’s biggest challenges.
Latest news from SHASS
Our work has broad impact at MIT and across the globe. Read the latest about new ideas coming out of SHASS.
Transforming complex research into compelling stories
New oral communication studio at MIT supports professional development in STEM.
Returning farming to city centers
4.182 (Resilient Urbanism: Green Commons in the City), a new subject funded by the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC), teaches students about sustainable agriculture in urban areas.
How drones are altering contemporary warfare
A new book by scholar and military officer Erik Lin-Greenberg examines the evolving dynamics of military and state action centered around drones.
