Turning science into stories
The World at MIT: Daron Acemoglu
World-class
research
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.
3 Questions: On humanizing scientists
In the new book “The Shape of Wonder,” co-author Alan Lightman, professor of the practice in Comparative Media Studies/Writing, prolific MIT author and physicist, examines the working lives, contributions, and idealism of researchers. “While humanizing scientists in the book, we show how critical thinking works in science,” he says.
Why countries trade with each other while fighting
Mariya Grinberg’s new book, “Trade in War,” examines the curious phenomenon of economic trade during military conflict. “There is a lot of variation in which products get traded, and in which wars, and there are differences in how long trade lasts into a war. But it does happen,” Grinberg 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.
Kaelyn Dunnell
Literature major
Nuclear Science and Engineering major
“Literature reminds me to be alive. I love that it’s interdisciplinary, that it’s diverse, and that it’s widened my mind in ways I didn’t know existed.”
Maggie Huili Yao
Computer Science and Engineering major
Mathematics minor
Science, Technology, and Society minor
“As most of my research work is in applied machine learning, STS has taught me how to think critically about how we design these and evaluate these algorithms with their broader implications in society.”
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.
MIT Schwarzman College of Computing welcomes 11 new faculty for 2025
The faculty members occupy core computing and shared positions, bringing varied backgrounds and expertise to the MIT community.
Remembering Professor Emerita Jeanne Shapiro Bamberger, a pioneer in music education
The former department chair was an early innovator in the use of artificial intelligence to both study and influence how children learn music.
Blending neuroscience, AI, and music to create mental health innovations
Media Lab PhD student Kimaya Lecamwasam researches how music can shape well-being.
In the media
Nobel prizes this year offer three cheers for slow science
Mangrum’s comical computation
Can Trump end this impossibly cruel practice?
Zen and the art of midlife maintenance
SHASS videos
Graduate student spotlight: PhD candidate Angie Jo
