JUNE 2022
MIT SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES, ARTS, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
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COMMENCEMENT 2022
CLASS OF 2022
Profiles | Salute to Seniors
Meet 38 of the many graduating seniors who focused deeply on both Liberal Arts and STEM fields at MIT. In their own words, these "bilingual" students reflect on the value of their multi-dimensional, dual-competence MIT education — and their visions for the future!
Profiles | Related: Be Your Whole Self at MIT
MIT PHI BETA KAPPA
82 MIT Class of 2022 students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Society
“These graduating seniors demonstrated exceptional academic performance not only in technical fields, but in the humanities, the social and natural science fields — the Liberal Arts." Warm congratulations to the newest members of MIT's PBK chapter, Xi of Massachusetts.
Story | PBK at MIT | Gallery of MIT PBK Speakers
ADVANCED DEGREE CEREMONY | MIT SHASS
Welcome and Address | Agustín Rayo, Dean of MIT SHASS
Presiding over the ceremony, Dean Rayo, said: “Many of you will leave MIT with collaborators who will be part of a lifelong intellectual journey. Many of you will leave MIT having crafted ideas that wlll shape your careers. And I hope you will all think of yourselves as part of the MIT family for the rest of your lives."
Video: Dean Rayo's remarks begin at 20.45
L to R: Agustín Rayo, Kenan Sahin Dean; Marc Aidinoff PhD'22; Melissa Nobles, MIT Chancellor
ADVANCED DEGREE CEREMONY | MIT SHASS
Address | Marc Aidinoff PhD'22 (HASTS)
Aidinoff's address included a call to action: "For those in this room for whom today is a reaffirmation of your vocation...please stand up for the ability to pursue a research question for its own sake. Protect the privilege to wonder!
Video: Dean Rayo's introduction of Dr. Aidinoff begins at 22.48
2022 | UNDERGRADUATE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY
Address to MIT graduating seniors | Chancellor Melissa Nobles
Nobles, a Professor of Political Science, encouraged the undergraduate Class of 2022 "to apply your vast scientific, technological, and humanistic knowledge along with your empathy and compassion, to the challenges of climate change, human health, social justice, and preserving our democracy."
Text of the Chancellor's address
MIT'S NOBEL LAUREATES IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
Nine Nobel Prizes in Economics, a new installation in the School's Great Ideas Exhibit in the Building 14 Lobby
GREAT IDEAS EXHIBIT
Nine Nobel Prizes in Economic Sciences
The most recent installation in the school's Great Ideas Exhibit celebrates the nine MIT faculty recipients of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economics Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The exhibit tells the story of the wide range of significant contributions by MIT faculty economists that have transformed the field over the past century.
About the MIT Economics Department
NEW WORKS
POLITICAL SCIENCE
From South Africa, a success story for democracy | Evan Lieberman
In his new book, Lieberman examines a quarter-century of post-Apartheid government and finds meaningful progress.
Story by Peter Dizikes at MIT News | Evan Lieberman
COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES
Virtual worlds apart | Paul Roquet
Roquet’s new book, The Immersive Enclosure, traces the very different trajectories of virtual reality (VR) in the US and Japan (roots in military training technology vs. “other world” fantasies.) As such, VR is a case study in the way innovations evolve in relation to the cultures that adopt them."
Story by Peter Dizikes, MIT News | Paul Roquet
COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES
When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 & the Polarizing of America | Heather Hendershot
A riveting account of how network broadcasts of the '68 Democratic convention — and police violence against protestors — diminished trust in American media. In her forthcoming book, Hendershot shows how the political right in the U.S. has amplified distrust of TV news, to the point where even the most clearly documented stories can be deemed “fake.”
About the book | Heather Hendershot
_________________________
COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES / WRITING
A bright light on New York’s Bengali past | Vivek Bald
"In Search of Bengali Harlem," a deeply affecting, tranformative documentary film directed by CMS/W Professor Vivek Bald and playwrite Alaudin Ullah, salutes South Asians who carved out new lives in the US, against the odds.
Story by Peter Dizikes, MIT News | Film + Book | Vivek Bald
PHILOSOPHY
New edition of the "Five Questions" podcast | Kieran Setiya
MIT philosopher Setiya asks Antonia Peacocke, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, five questions about herself.
Five Questions: current edition | Kieran Setiya
MUSIC
Icarus and Other Music | CD from MIT composer Elena Ruehr
"I was mightily impressed. 'Icarus' is a tone poem inspired by the Greek legend of the hero’s ill-fated flight too close to the sun. A multilayered work, it focuses primarily on the euphoria of building the wings and initial flight, but with an elegiac undertow."
Review at Gramophone | Elena Ruehr
JOIN US IN MAKING A JUST SOCIETY
Collage: Cell phone image (Getty), with still from a video of police violence
COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES + MIT SHASS
The Greater Boston community is invited to an MIT conference, October 5-7:
"Bearing Witness/Seeking Justice: Videography in the Hands of the People."
“We’re encouraging people in the Greater Boston area to attend, including young people, concerned citizens, community-based organizations — everyone who cares about democracy, media, justice, and truth-telling." We welcome your voices, insights, experiences, and perspectives
SOLVING CLIMATE
Lama Willa Baker; photo by Lisa Hinkley
GLOBAL LANGUAGES | THE CHAO DISTINGUISHED BUDDHIST LECTURE SERIES
Lama Willa Blythe Baker details the power of being to help solve the climate crisis
Baker observes that while intellectual ingenuity, science, and technology are critical to solving the climate crisis they can be even more effective when combined with practices that grapple "with the underlying issue" of being — that is, who are are how we want to live. She makes the case that we gain capacities for solving climate when see ourselves less as stewards of the planet, more as a part of the planet.
Story + Video: Environment, Ethics and Embodiment | Related: Given what we know, how do we live now?
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES + SECURITY STUDIES PROGRAM
Clearinghouse: Analysis + Research on the war in Ukraine
The implications and consequences of the Russian assault on Ukraine will be felt for years. CIS is closely involved via analysis, advice, and informing the public with regular updates.
Clearinghouse of Analysis + Research
INSPIRING, QUIRKY, WORTHY STORIES
Calling all SHASS fields: Have you taught or mentored a student with a compelling post-graduation story? Media Relations Manager Stephen Oakes (oakes@mit.edu) would like to hear from you!
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Office of the Dean, MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Editor and Designer: Emily Hiestand
Publication Associate: Alison Lanier
Published 16 June 2022