Video: Highlights of the 2017 MIT INSPIRE event
 

“More than 1700 teenagers and 950 educators across the country have leveraged INSPIRE as a pivotal platform to explore societal topics through a humanistic lens, engage in innovative inquiry on real world issues, and connect with experts and peers on potential solutions.”

—MIT INSPIRE co-founder Vaishnavi Rao ’17



MIT INSPIRE is the first and only national high school competition for research in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.

“It is no surprise to me that MIT would support a program such as INSPIRE,” wrote William D. Adams, chairman for the National Endowment for the Humanities, in a letter of support for the initiative. “Long before C.P. Snow talked about what he saw as a growing rift between the sciences and humanities, MIT made sure there were no such intellectual silos in the minds of its students.”

Founded in 2015 by MIT undergraduates and sponsored in part by SHASS, INSPIRE hosts student finalists from across the United States annually on MIT campus for the final stage of competition, judged by experts that include numerous MIT faculty.

“More than 1700 teenagers and 950 educators across the country have leveraged INSPIRE as a pivotal platform to explore societal topics through a humanistic lens, engage in innovative inquiry on real world issues, and connect with experts and peers on potential solutions,” said co-founder Vaishnavi Rao ’17. z

“I am excited that INSPIRE will continue to thrive under the leadership of Ethan Vo '19 and Seeta Patel '20.”

 

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News Archive: Students launch MIT INSPIRE competition