School Committees
Leadership Roles
SHASS Research Chair
The SHASS Research Chair oversees the school’s funds and programs to support research efforts by chairing the SHASS Awards and Internal Fellowships committees and co-chairing the MITHIC Humanities Cultivation Fund.
Research Chair: Anne McCants
SHASS Undergraduate Chair
The SHASS Undergraduate Chair oversees all aspects of the school’s undergraduate education efforts by chairing the SHASS Education Advisory Committee and co-chairing the MITHIC Education Innovation Fund.
Undergraduate Education Chair: Emily Richmond Pollock
Governance and Advisory Committees
Faculty Diversity Committee
The SHASS Faculty Diversity Committee is tasked with maintaining and advancing the school’s diversity efforts.
Chair: Heather Paxson
Faculty: Patricia Tang
Faculty: Elizabeth Wood
Staff: Carly Soll
Gender Equity Committee
The Gender Equity Committee works with the Associate Dean for Faculty to advise the dean on the promotion of gender equity (and equity more broadly) across SHASS, including recommendations on talent acquisition, retention, and opportunities for advancement. The SHASS co-chairs also meet periodically with the Gender Equity co-chairs from other schools across the Institute.
Co-chair: David Pesetsky
Co-chair: TL Taylor
Ex officio: Heather Paxson
Staff: Carly Soll
Education Committees
Burchard Faculty Fellows
The Burchard Scholars Program brings together distinguished faculty and MIT sophomores and juniors who have demonstrated excellence in some aspect of the humanities, arts, or social sciences. Faculty and students meet throughout the year for dinner seminars that reflect the range of inquiry and research in SHASS.
Chair: Charles Shadle
Faculty: Ian Ball
Senior lecturer: Liana Ewald
Faculty: Mariya Grinberg
Faculty: Noel Jackson
Faculty: Marjoleine Kars
Faculty: Matthias Michel
Faculty: Eli Nelson
Staff: Chanh Phan
Education Innovation Fund Selection Committee
The Education Innovation Fund (EIF) is part of the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC). The EIF is intended to support new educational approaches in SHASS fields.
Co-chair: Eric Klopfer
Co-chair: Emily Richmond Pollock
Faculty: Devin Caughey
Faculty: Paloma Duong
Faculty: Robin Scheffler
Lecturer: Joaquin Terrones
Lecturer: Michael Trice
Student: TBD
Student: TBD
Staff: Chanh Phan
Extended Lecturer Council
The Extended Lecturer Council brings together teaching staff representatives in Music and Theater Arts, Comparative Media Studies/Writing, and Global Languages to share information and exchange ideas.
Lecturer: Tony Chen
Senior lecturer: Liana Ewald
Lecturer: A.C. Kemp
Senior Lecturer: Teresa Neff
Lecturer: Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze
Senior Lecturer: Ken Urban
Global Languages Steering Committee
Committed to excellence in teaching and pedagogical innovation, Global Languages works in tandem with interdisciplinary area studies faculty across SHASS to help students develop communicative and intercultural competencies.
Senior lecturer: Takako Aikawa
Faculty: Adam Albright
Senior lecturer: Liana Ewald
Senior lecturer: Eva Dessein
Faculty: Paloma Duong
Senior lecturer: Dagmar Jaeger
Senior lecturer: Hee-Jeong Jeong
Senior lecturer: Maria Khotimsky
Senior lecturer: Haohsiang Liao
Faculty: Richard Samuels
Kelly Douglas Fund Committee
The Kelly-Douglas Fund supports teaching and research by members of MIT SHASS.
Chair: Eric Goldberg
Faculty: Oliver Rollins
Staff: Chanh Phan
Program in Women’s and Gender Studies Steering Committee
Women’s and Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that provides students, faculty, and staff with opportunities to participate in scholarly inquiry focused on women, gender, sexuality, and intersectional identities.
Chair: Sana Aiyar
Lecturer: Hafsa Arain
Faculty: Catherine D’Ignazio (DUSP)
Faculty: TBD
Lecturer: Abha Sur
Lecturer: Joaquin Terrones
Ex officio: Emily Richmond Pollock
SHASS Education Advisory Committee
The Education Advisory Committee (SCHEAC) advises the dean on the school’s undergraduate education efforts, including annual review of substantial changes to major and minor programs. The committee also evaluates proposals for the Undergraduate Fund and for IAP subjects abroad, selects the winners of the Levitan Teaching Awards, and administers the Kelly-Douglas Fund, which supports the Humanities at MIT.
Chair: Emily Richmond Pollock
Faculty: Devin Caughey
Faculty: Paloma Duong
Faculty: Robin Scheffler
Lecturer: Joaquin Terrones
Lecturer: Michael Trice
Student: TBD
Student: TBD
Student: TBD
Student: TBD
Staff: Chanh Phan
Award and Programming Committees
De Florez Humor Fund Committee
The de Florez Fund Committee funds humorous projects and events proposed by students, faculty, and staff at MIT. The committee also seeks out collaborations and brainstorms about ways to stir up humor around campus.
Chair: Kieran Setiya
Senior lecturer: Eva Dessein
Senior lecturer: Teresa Neff
Faculty: Benjamin Mangrum
Staff: Chanh Phan
Humanities Cultivation Fund Committee
The Humanities Cultivation Fund is part of the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC). It supports projects led by people from Humanities or Arts focused on a humanistic topic with broad impact.
Co-chair: Arthur Bahr
Co-chair: Anne McCants
Faculty: Eden Medina
Faculty: Leslie Tilley
Faculty: Per Urlaub
Staff: TBD
SHASS Faculty Fellows Program Committee
The SHASS Faculty Fellows Review Committee reviews annual applications for the one-semester Fellows program and advises the Dean on selecting two cohorts per year.
Chair: Anne McCants
Faculty: Arthur Bahr
Faculty: Justin Khoo
Faculty: Noah Nathan
Ex Officio: Heather Paxson
Faculty: Marcus Thompson
Staff: TBD
SHASS Awards Selection Committee
The SHASS Awards Selection Committee selects awardees for the Dean’s Grants program and decides the winner of the Levitan Research Prize.
Chair: Anne McCants
Faculty: Per Urlaub
Faculty: Richard Nielsen
Lecturer: Amy Carleton
Staff: TBD
SHASS+ Connectivity Fund Selection Committee
The SHASS+ Connectivity Fund is part of the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC). The fund is designed to support research that builds bridges between SHASS fields and other fields at MIT. Five faculty members from SHASS are joined by five members drawn from across the Institute.
Co-chair: David Kaiser (SHASS)
Co-chair: Maria Yang (School of Engineering)
Faculty: Will Deringer (SHASS)
Faculty: Noah Nathan (SHASS)
Faculty: Emma Teng (SHASS)
Faculty: Esther Duflo (SHASS)
Faculty: Eran Egozy (SHASS)
Faculty: Catherine D’Ignazio (School of Architecture and Planning)
Faculty: Rohit Karnik (School of Engineering)
Faculty: Wanda Orlikowski (Sloan School of Management)
Faculty: Jessika Trancik (Schwarzman College of Computing)
Faculty: Jeremiah Johnson (School of Science)
