For All Proposed HASS-D Subjects
The following criteria should apply to all proposed HASS-D subjects unless stated otherwise.
Conceptual Criteria
1. Each HASS-D category should consist of subjects that are appropriate for students who may never take another subject in that area of learning. HASS-D subjects should have a broad intellectual range and include a generous view of the alternative and often competing assumptions, perspectives, and intellectual tendencies in the field.
2. HASS-D subjects should incorporate where appropriate materials and insights drawn from the full range of contemporary scholarship, including that on women, minorities, and non-western cultures.
3. HASS-D subjects should aim at developing both substantive knowledge and analytical skills.
4. HASS-D subjects should not have prerequisites, and subjects within the five HASS-D categories should offer a range of choices suited to the different interests, abilities, and preparations of MIT undergraduates.
5. The HASS-D requirement is meant to complement the Institute requirements in science and mathematics by emphasizing the modes of inquiry and discourse that are qualitative and contextual.
Mechanical Criteria
1. Writing Component
There should be frequent and substantial writing exercises in HASS-D subjects, except in some Arts subjects where other kinds of exercises may be required. At least three such exercises per term totaling at least 20 pages will be required. These writing exercises should be distributed throughout the term and returned sufficiently early so that comments and criticisms on one can help students prepare for the next. Note: for those Category 1 subjects where writing is done in a foreign language, a minimum of only 15 pages is required (because of the added difficulty of writing in a foreign language).
2. Final Examinations
a scheduled three-hour final examination is required in all HASS-D subjects. (An exception are those HASS-D subjects designated “Communication Intensive” or “CI.") The final should cover subject material over the entire term and count for a significant portion of the final grade.
3. Discussion Sections
HASS-D subjects are to devote a minimum of one hour (out of three hours) per week for discussions, and they should be required of all students. It is expected that each HASS-D discussion section will have no more than 20 students; under no circumstances will a discussion section have more than 25 students.
4. Frequency of Weekly Meeting
HASS-D subjects are to meet at least twice each week for a total of three hours.
5. Multiple Sections and/or Discussion Section
The greatest portion of the readings and final examinations in HASS-D subjects with multiple sections or multiple discussion sections should be the same for all students enrolled in those subjects. A portion of the readings and the examinations may, however, vary with individual sections.
6. Staffing
It is expected that HASS-D subjects, including those with multiple sections and/or multiple discussion sections, will normally be staffed by regular faculty members. Because HASS-D subjects are likely to require multiple discussion sections, proposals should specify how those sections would be staffed.
7. Licensing
Any new subject accepted for HASS-D status will initially be granted a license for three years, after which it must be reviewed for continued eligibility as a distribution subject by the Overview Committee.
8. Frequency of Offering
HASS-D subjects should be offered a minimum of once per academic year for three consecutive years.
9. Listings
HASS-D subjects may not be listed in more than one distribution category.
10. Units
All HASS-D subjects must be 12 units.
11. Limits on Joint Listings and Teaching
HASS-D subjects may not be jointly listed with, nor taught together with, graduate subjects.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology