Said and Done
September 2019
MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
QUOTABLE
"Technology is a human product. We shape technological change through our choices of investments, incentives, cultural values, and political objectives."
— David Mindell, co-chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, professor of aeronautics and astronautics, and Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing
RESEARCH AND NEW WORKS
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES | STARR FORUM
Understanding Populism
At an MIT forum, scholars described the hallmarks of populism as well as its relationship to global economics. One issue, said political scientist Suzanne Berger, the John M. Deutch Institute Professor, is a globalizing economy that has not been accompanied by inclusive politics and policies.
Story by Peter Dizikes at MIT News
J-PAL NORTH AMERICA
Using RCTs to help reduce and prevent homelessness, conflict, and violence
New J-PAL North America publication highlights how research can improve policies to help people access and maintain stable, affordable housing. Story • Two major research initiatives expand the evidence base on effective conflict and violence prevention programs. Blog
MIT TASK FORCE ON THE WORK OF THE FUTURE
Initial report examines how to make technology work for society
The initial report from MIT's Task Force on the Work of the Future calls for vastly improved policies to harness technological change for shared prosperity. The task force is led by Elizabeth Reynolds, director of the MIT IPL, and two MIT SHASS professors, economist David Autor and historian/engineer David Mindell.
Story by Peter Dizikes at MIT News | Video: Presentation at the National Press Club
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
3Q: John Tirman on a new US human rights commission
Tirman, the executive director of CIS, argues that a recent commission launched by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is an attempt to redirect the human rights movement.
Interview | Tirman's webpage
MUSIC
Dream Lightly | Keeril Makan
The new album by acclaimed MIT composer Keeril Makan includes four works that combine lyric and harmonic qualities with the most advanced techniques of electronic music.
About | Listen | Makan's website
MAJOR AWARDS + RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE
COMMUNITY
Dean Melissa Nobles and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences are very pleased to welcome the seven newest members of the MIT SHASS faculty — and to announce five newly-tenured members of our School faculty.
Newly-Tenured Faculty
Congratulations to Nikhil Agarwal, Sana Aiyar, Stephanie Frampton, F. Daniel Hidalgo, and Miriam Schoenfield!
Gallery | Newly-Tenured Faculty 2019
New Faculty
Welcome from our School community.
Gallery | New Faculty 2019
New Faculty L to R, top: Kate Brown, Professor of Science, Technology, and Society; Tobias Salz, Assistant Professor of Economics; Athulya Aravind, Assistant Professor of Linguistics
L to R; bottom: Clare Balboni, Assistant Professor of Economics; Sara Brown, Assistant Professor of Theater Arts (and Director of Design for MIT Theater); Eden Medina, Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society; Stephen Morris, Professor of Economics
VOICES OF MIT GRADUATE STUDENTS
Meet Jia Hui Lee | PhD student studies human relationships with other animals
A student in the HASTS PhD program (History/Anthropology/Science, Technology & Society), Lee has traveled extensively to study cutlural differences in how people relate to other animals.
Story at MIT News
Meet Carolyn Stein | PhD student researches the economics of science
"Scientists are often motivated by factors other than wages, but many insights from labor economics still help us understand how the field of science functions.”
Story by Maria Iacobo, SHASS Communications
Carolyn Stein; photo by Maria Iacobo
RESEARCH AND NEW WORKS
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY
The origins of America's processed food | Deborah Fitzgerald
“I started wondering where it all came from," says Fitzgerald. There had to be a driving force that made people think this was a great idea."
Story at MIT Spectrum | Deborah Fitzgerald's webpage
KNIGHT SCIENCE JOURNALISM AT MIT
Ehsan Masood unearths untold stories of the McCarthy era
Masood's 30-minute documentary arrives during a critical moment: from the US to Europe and beyond, the nationalist and xenophobic urges that fueled McCarthyism are experiencing a resurgence.
Story | Documentary: Surviving McCarthy
LINGUISTICS
One, two — or Infinite | Shigeru Miyagawa
New study shows that Old World monkeys can combine up to two items in speech, but never more, whereas humans can make infinite combinations. Miyagawa suggests that the profound gulf reflects fundamentally different cognitive systems for combining language, which may be traceable to a tiny physiological change.
Story by Peter Dizikes at MIT News | Shigeru Miyagawa's website
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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 17 September 2019