Said and Done
December 2019
MIT SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES, ARTS, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
QUOTABLE
"My role as a journalist is to inform people about what is happening in the world, from documenting what is already taking place because of climate change, to detailing scientific analyses in terms regular people can understand, to holding truth to power — and getting people to understand what their governments are doing."
— Kendra Pierre-Louis SM'16, climate reporter, The New York Times
ON THE STATE OF CLIMATE COMMUNICATIONS
Leading U.S. climate reporters share insights at MIT Communications Forum
Kendra Pierre-Louis, climate reporter for The New York Times, and Lisa Song, a science/climate reporter for ProPublica, are both alumna of our Graduate Program in Science Writing. They visited MIT recently to share insights on the mission, craft, discoveries, and impact of their work. Interview + Event Summary and Video
MIT'S LAUREATES AT THE 2019 NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY
MIT Professors Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, and Professor Michael Kremer of Harvard—the 2019 laureates in Economic Sciences—at the 2019 Nobel Ceremony; photo courtesy of The Nobel Foundation
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences
Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer were awarded the 2019 Nobel prize in Economic Sciences “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”
Information, Videos, and Photographs at the Nobel website
2019 Nobel Prize Ceremony
Presentations to Professors Banerjee and Duflo begin at 1:22. | Video
2019 Sveriges Riksbank Lectures in Economic Sciences | Video
NEW BOOKS & CREATIVE WORKS
Amy Moran-Thomas, Alfred Henry and Jean Morrison Hayes Career Development Associate Professor of Anthropology
ANTHROPOLOGY
Traveling with Sugar: Chronicles of a Global Epidemic | Amy Moran-Thomas
In her new book, Moran-Thomas reframes the rising diabetes epidemic as part of a five-hundred-year-old global history. Amid injuries and untimely deaths, many people across the Caribbean and Central America call the affliction simply “sugar” — or, as some say in Belize, “traveling with sugar.” About the Book | Amy Moran-Thomas
MIT CENTER FOR ADVANCED VIRTUALITY
Video installation helps viewers recognize misinformation | Fox Harrell and colleagues
With the innovative video “In Event of Moon Disaster,” the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality (CAV)—led by Professor Fox Harrell—is educating the public about the global challenge of computer-based misinformation in a world "fraught with challenges over the question of truth." The project, directed by Francesca Panetta, received the Special Jury Award at the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling.
Story by MIT Open Learning | IDFA Jury Award
Visit the MIT SHASS Bookshelf Online
Browse books and recordings
INSIDE THE CLASSROOM | HOW TO CONSTRUCT A LANGUAGE
Alyssa Wells-Lewis '21 with a written sample of dænikjə, her constructed language. The text reads: "We know that she can write." photo by Allegra Boverman
LINGUISTICS
MIT students invent "conlangs" in a linguistics maker-class
In 24.917/Constructed Languages, MIT students are creating new languages (think Star Trek's Klingon and Tolkien's Quenya), while learning the fundamentals of linguistics, the science of language. Audio piece features students speaking in and about their conlangs and linguistics scholar Norvin Richards on the linguistics quest "to understand the properties of the human mind, and what kind of creatures human beings are."
Story + Audio Feature
MEET TIMOTHY LOH | MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST-IN-TRAINING
Timothy Loh; photo by Maria Iacobo
THE HASTS PHD PROGRAM
Research: the role of technology/medicine in Deaf and signing cultures
"MIT is the best place to be an anthropologist studying issues of science and technology,” Loh says. “It’s a place where we’re able to think deeply and critically about how scientific knowledge and authority is constructed.
Story by MIT SHASS Communications
EXPLORE
Follow us
Subscribe to Said and Done
9 issues a year
Media Digest
Recent coverage
Research Impact
Impact
Ethics, Computing, and AI: Perspectives from MIT
Browse the Series
Computing and AI: Humanistic Perspectives from MIT
Browse the Series
MIT Climate website | Humanistic research
A major source of research, innovation, and discussion
Join us!
SHASS on MIT News
Research and Features
MIT Campaign for a Better World
Story | Join Us
Published by SHASS Communications
Office of the Dean, MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Editor and Designer: Emily Hiestand
Publication Associate: Alison Lanier
Published 11 December 2019