Advancing Human Understanding
MITHIC: One Year In
Recreating the forms and sounds of historical musical instruments
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.
“We the People” depicts inventors, dreamers, and innovators in all 50 states
For the 250th anniversary of the US, Joshua Bennett’s epic poem celebrates unexpected lives forged across the nation. “There’s so much to be said for a country where you and I are possible, and the things we do are possible,” Bennett says.
Seeds of something different
Program in Science, Technology, and Society professor Kate Brown’s new book, “Tiny Gardens Everywhere: The Past, Present, and Future of the Self-Provisioning City,” examines the hidden history of urban farming, its extensive use, and the politics of growing food. “In a little space, you can grow a lot of produce,” Brown says. “You can have another job and still grow food.”
MIT graduates share how their SHASS education prepared them to take on the world’s greatest challenges.
Meicen Sun PhD ’22
Political Science
“SHASS provided the crucial resources and flexibility needed to investigate how we can approach the social sciences from the perspective of information science.”
Rujul Gandhi ’22
Linguistics and Philosophy (Course 24-2)
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6)
“SHASS classes, such as in theater or political science, gave me a chance to learn about human connection at levels from individual to global. My current work on communication falls into this broad theme of how people connect to each other.”
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 on the brain
Graduate student Claire Southard ’25 explores new frontiers in music technology.
Students learn theater design through the power of play
MIT Theater faculty invite students to draw upon their personal experiences to create evocative set, sound, and lighting designs.
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.
Q&A: MIT SHASS and the future of education in the age of AI
As the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences marks 75 years, Dean Agustín Rayo reflects on how AI is reshaping higher education and why SHASS disciplines continue to be central to MIT’s mission.
Jazz in the key of life
Saxophonist Miguel Zenón, a Grammy-winning MIT faculty member, creates a distinctive blend of jazz and traditional Puerto Rican music.
A philosophy of work
As the NC Ethics of Technology Postdoctoral Fellow, Michal Masny is advancing dialogue, teaching, and research into the social and ethical dimensions of new computing technologies.
In the media
Colleges ban generative AI in writing classes. My classmates use it anyway.
We are witnessing the rise of a new aristocracy
‘A logistical nightmare.’ Experts explain Trump’s mail-in ballot order
America is used to hiding its wars. Trump is doing the opposite.
SHASS videos
Learning about global music traditions and cultures
