News From SHASS

World-renowned cellist and MIT alum Carlos Prieto performs at an event April 9 in the Samberg Conference Center.

A musical life: Carlos Prieto ’59 in conversation and concert

School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 26, 2024

The acclaimed cellist and writer discussed his new memoir and reflected on a remarkable musical career.

Seven from MIT elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2024

MIT News

April 25, 2024

The prestigious honor society announces more than 250 new members.

“Feedback, advice, and support from faculty were crucial as I grew as a researcher at MIT,” economics PhD student Anna Russo says.

Bringing an investigator’s eye to complex social challenges

Benjamin Daniel | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 24, 2024

MIT economics doctoral student Anna Russo studies how to improve the design, function, and outcomes of public policies.

MIT senior Mikayla Britsch sees civil and environmental engineering as a vocation requiring both technical and people skills. “It would be nice to work in a combination of transportation engineering and public policy, using what I’ve learned at MIT and from the people I’ve met to improve transportation,” she says.

“No one can work in civil engineering alone”

Angelina Parrillo | MIT News correspondent

April 23, 2024

For senior Mikayla Britsch, civil and environmental engineering is a vocation that requires both technical and people skills.

Effective July 1, anthropology professor Heather Paxson will begin her new role as associate dean for faculty of SHASS.

Heather Paxson named associate dean for faculty of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Michael Brindley | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 19, 2024

In her new role, the professor of anthropology will seek to promote well-being and advancement within the SHASS community.

The Knight Science Journalism Program will welcome 10 fellows, shown in this collage class photo, to Cambridge in June. (Back row, left to right): Sabrina McCrear, Utrurah Whitley, Jonathan Charles, and Jordyn Isaacs. (Front row, left to right): Trinity Polk, Skylar Rowley, Zoe Earle, Mykal Bailey, Steven Matthews Jr., and Christén Davis.

Knight Science Journalism Program launches HBCU Science Journalism Fellowship

Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT

April 17, 2024

The fellowship will incubate early-career science journalists, providing them with a year of skill-building freelance experience and dedicated mentorship.

Collecting study materials from a liquefied petroleum gas depot manager for the evaluation, "Targeting Clean Fuels: Pricing Strategies and the Distribution of Benefits in Periurban Ghana." Kintampo North Municipality, Ghana.

Q&A: Claire Walsh on how J-PAL’s King Climate Action Initiative tackles the twin climate and poverty crises

Leda Zimmerman | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 17, 2024

Since 2020, K-CAI has innovated and tested climate policies in more than 35 countries and supported scale-ups that have reached over 15 million people.

(From left to right): MIT professors Mary Fuller, Paula Hammond, Ann Graybiel, and Sangeeta Bhatia

Women in STEM — A celebration of excellence and curiosity

Dario Salati | Sharece Corner | MindHandHeart

April 16, 2024

An MIT Values event showcased three women's career journeys and how they are paving the way for the next generation.

Situated in the heart of campus on Vassar Street, the central location of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing building will help form a new cluster of connectivity across a spectrum of disciplines in computing and artificial intelligence at MIT.

A crossroads for computing at MIT

Terri Park | MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

April 11, 2024

The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing building will form a new cluster of connectivity across a spectrum of disciplines in computing and artificial intelligence.

Left to right: Paulo Lozano, Agustín Rayo, and Griselda Gómez celebrate 20 years of MIT-Mexico with MIT alumni in Mexico City.

MIT-Mexico Program fosters cross-border collaboration

Lisa Capone | Office of the Vice Provost for International Activities | MIT Center for International Studies

April 10, 2024

For two decades, MIT-Mexico has funded student internships and teaching, as well as faculty research collaborations.

QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 11 subjects for 2024

MIT News

April 10, 2024

The Institute also ranks second in five subject areas.

MIT researchers developed a new measure to understand whether homophily occurred in group interactions. Their work can help identify when certain characteristics are important for predicting if groups will interact in the future.

Characterizing social networks

Stephanie Martinovich | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

April 2, 2024

A new method to measure homophily in large group interactions offers insights into how groups might interact in the future.

An aspiring physician, MIT senior Daisy Wang hopes to engineer solutions for social problems that have the potential to effect systemic change.

Designing solutions to ensure equity in health care

Danna Lorch | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 2, 2024

MIT senior Daisy Wang interweaves biological engineering and women’s and gender studies as a way to address social problems.

A new program in the MIT Department of Economics will support predoctoral research fellows working with the department’s junior faculty. Thanks to the new program, predoc Wonjoon Choi (right) will be able to extend his contract with Tobias Salz (left), the Castle Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics.

MIT economics to launch new predoctoral fellowship program

Michael Brindley | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 2, 2024

Made possible by an ongoing fundraising initiative, the new program prioritizes building resources for economics faculty research.

Economists used new methods to examine how many U.S. jobs have been lost to machine automation, and how many have been created as technology leads to new tasks. On net, and particularly since 1980, technology has replaced more U.S. jobs than it has generated.

Does technology help or hurt employment?

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

April 1, 2024

Combing through 35,000 job categories in U.S. census data, economists found a new way to quantify technology’s effects on job loss and creation.

Most U.S. workers are in occupations that have only emerged widely since 1940, according to a large-scale study of 80 years of U.S. census data, led by MIT economist David Autor.

Most work is new work, long-term study of U.S. census data shows

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

April 1, 2024

The majority of U.S. jobs are in occupations that have emerged since 1940, MIT research finds — telling us much about the ways jobs are created and lost.

Co-authored by interdisciplinary teams of faculty and researchers affiliated with all five of the Institute’s schools and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, the proposals offer insights and perspectives on the potential impact and applications of generative AI across a broad range of topics and disciplines.

Second round of seed grants awarded to MIT scholars studying the impact and applications of generative AI

Mary Beth Gallagher | School of Engineering

March 28, 2024

The 16 finalists — representing every school at MIT — will explore generative AI’s impact on privacy, art, drug discovery, aging, and more.

New research by MIT economists shows school quality ratings significantly reflect the preparation of a school’s students, not just the school’s contribution to learning gains.

Is it the school, or the students?

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

March 28, 2024

Study shows perceptions of “good” schools are heavily dependent on the preparation of the students entering them.

The Chuquicamata copper mine in the north of Chile

Understanding the impacts of mining on local environments and communities

Carolyn Blais | Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab

March 21, 2024

Extractive industries threaten water, glaciers, and livelihoods, but new research offers hope.

MIT is one of only eight U.S. colleges with a fully need-blind undergraduate admissions policy that meets the full financial need of all students, and it continues to be focused on making the cost of an MIT education more affordable.

MIT announces financial aid and tuition rates for the 2024–25 academic year

Office of the Vice Chancellor

March 21, 2024

Financial aid increased, more than offsetting a 3.75 percent increase in tuition.

Senior Amber Velez is double-majoring in mechanical engineering and creative writing in history. "I study history to understand what needs to be changed and I write about our world and the ways it can be better," she says.

Forging her own path

Danna Lorch | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

March 21, 2024

By blending mechanical engineering, creative writing, and history studies, senior Amber Velez is discovering new ways of addressing climate change.

MIT provost Cynthia Barnhart (at podium) welcomes the first cohort of Global MIT At-Risk Fellows. Attendees and speakers at the event included (left to right) Suzanne Berger, an MIT Institute Professor; Pascale Laborier, a political scientist who co-developed the related PAUSE exhibit; fellows Kateryna Lopatiuk, Dmytro Chumachenko, and Liudmyla Huliaieva; and Professor Elizabeth Wood (standing in the rear), faculty lead of the pilot GMAF program offered through the MIT-Ukraine Program.

Visting scholars from Ukraine kick off Global MIT At-Risk Fellows Program

Lisa Capone | MIT Center for International Studies

March 19, 2024

Ukrainian researchers and faculty will spend a semester at MIT during the two-year pilot program.

MIT provost Cynthia Barnhart (at podium) welcomes the first cohort of Global MIT At-Risk Fellows. Attendees and speakers at the event included (left to right) Suzanne Berger, an MIT Institute Professor; Pascale Laborier, a political scientist who co-developed the related PAUSE exhibit; fellows Kateryna Lopatiuk, Dmytro Chumachenko, and Liudmyla Huliaieva; and Professor Elizabeth Wood (standing in the rear), faculty lead of the pilot GMAF program offered through the MIT-Ukraine Program.

Visiting scholars from Ukraine kick off Global MIT At-Risk Fellows Program

Lisa Capone | MIT Center for International Studies

March 19, 2024

Ukrainian researchers and faculty will spend a semester at MIT during the two-year pilot program.

Professors Joel Voldman (left) and Adam Martin will lead the effort to review and enhance MIT's undergraduate academic program.

3 Questions: Progress on updating MIT’s undergraduate curriculum

Office of the Vice Chancellor

March 19, 2024

Professors Adam Martin and Joel Volman explain the genesis, scope, and objectives of the recently launched Task Force on the MIT Undergraduate Academic Program.

The 2024 MacVicar Faculty Fellows are (clockwise from top left): Emily Richmond Pollock, Karl Berggren, Andrea Campbell, and Vinod Vaikuntanathan.

2024 MacVicar Faculty Fellows named

Meghan Burke | Registrar’s Office

March 15, 2024

Professors Berggren, Campbell, Pollock, and Vaikuntanathan are honored for exceptional undergraduate teaching.

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