Faculty-Driven Initiative: Living Climate Futures Lab
Research spotlight: Eran Egozy on blending music and technology
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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.
Decoding a medieval mystery manuscript
“My argument is that this physical object adds up to more than the sum of its parts, through its creative interplay of text, image, and materials,” MIT Literature professor Arthur Bahr says. His book, “Chasing the Pearl-Manuscript: Speculation, Shapes, Delight,” explores the Pearl-Manuscript, a singular bound volume from the 1300s containing the earliest versions of the masterly medieval poem “Pearl,” the famous tale “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and two other poems.
Tiny organisms, huge implications for people
Comparative Media Studies/Writing Professor Thomas Levenson’s new book, “So Very Small: How Humans Discovered the Microcosmos, Defeated Germs — and May Still Lose the War against Infectious Disease,” explores germ theory development and humanity’s ability to thoroughly combat germs. “I’m aiming to better illuminate the single most life-saving tool human ingenuity has ever come up with,” 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.
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.
SHASS community spotlight
The SHASS community is made of inspiring students, staff, and faculty. Meet these individuals who have big impacts in the corridors of MIT and beyond.
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.
How repetition helps art speak to us
Jay Keyser’s new book, “Play It Again, Sam,” makes the case that repeated motifs enhance our experience of artistic works.
Face-to-face with Es Devlin
The celebrated artist and designer creates connection at all scales.
Summer 2025 reading from MIT
Enjoy these recent titles from Institute faculty and staff.
