Faculty-Driven Initiative: Living Climate Futures Lab
Research spotlight: Eran Egozy on blending music and technology
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.
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.
Supersize me
A new book from MIT political scientist Kathleen Thelen, “Attention, Shoppers! American Retail Capitalism and the Origins of the Amazon Economy,” examines the political dynamics behind the huge U.S. retail economy. “The markets that we take as given, that we think of as the natural outcome of supply and demand, are heavily shaped by policy and by politics,” she 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.
Kate Augustyn
Biological Engineering major
German language minor
“Study in the scientific, technical, social science, arts, and humanities fields provides a wide range of knowledge and perspectives. Studying humanities encourages me to think creatively and approach problems from different angles, which can be helpful in engineering fields as well.”
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.
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.
Researchers present bold ideas for AI at MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium kickoff event
Presentations targeted high-impact intersections of AI and other areas, such as health care, business, and education.
QS ranks MIT the world’s No. 1 university for 2025-26
Ranking at the top for the 14th year in a row, the Institute also places first in 11 subject areas.
The MIT Press acquires University Science Books from AIP Publishing
The textbook publisher will transfer to the MIT Press next month, in time for fall 2025 course adoptions.
