MIT Human Insight Collaborative announces funding awards for inaugural series of projects

The MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC) has announced funding for thirty-two projects.

MITHIC launched in 2024 as a new presidential-level initiative that aims to elevate human-centered research and teaching, and bring together scholars in the humanities, arts, and social sciences with their colleagues across the Institute. 

“We designed MITHIC to help MIT faculty in human-centered fields ‘go big’ – to explore the frontiers of knowledge in their fields, connect across disciplines, and devise new solutions for global challenges,” says MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “A tall order, but faculty jumped at the chance, offering an incredible array of bold, creative proposals and ideas.”

A call for proposals went out in Fall 2024 and yielded 89 submissions.

“These are very exciting projects, which highlight the importance of cross-school collaboration and the extraordinary potential of human-centered research at MIT,” says MITHIC co-chair Agustín Rayo, Kenan Sahin Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and professor of philosophy. “I can’t wait for the entire community to hear about some of the research being developed through MITHIC.”

Recipients received awards from one of three funds: the SHASS+ Connectivity Fund, the Humanities Cultivation Fund, and the SHASS Education Innovation Fund. The SHASS+ Connectivity Fund pairs a project lead in SHASS with another project lead from across the Institute with the goal of achieving large-scale, long-term impact. The interdisciplinary teams include representation from SHASS, the School of Architecture and Planning, the School of Engineering, the School of Science, and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.

The Humanities Cultivation Fund supports ambitious endeavors in the arts and humanities, and the SHASS Education Innovation Fund supports projects that will help create transformative educational experiences and practices in SHASS for MIT students.

“It is wonderful to see the tremendous enthusiasm for MITHIC reflected in the incredible range of submissions for the first call for proposals,” adds MITHIC co-chair Anantha Chandrakasan, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer, Dean of the School of Engineering, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “The projects will advance core humanities research and education as well as build important bridges between SHASS and the rest of campus. I’m confident we will see exciting cross-disciplinary work come out of this set and look forward to the collaborations’ impacts.”

The funding runs for one year, beginning January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025. Some of the projects are new initiatives, while others are ongoing.

“MITHIC is taking a ground up approach towards identifying faculty research priorities. Some of the funded projects are aligned with other presidential priorities, such as climate change and generative AI, while all reflect the fascinating diversity of intellectual passions that unite MIT’s faculty, teaching staff, and research staff,” says SHASS Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives Keeril Makan, MITHIC Faculty Lead and the Michael (1949) and Sonja Koerner Music Composition Professor.

The funded projects are listed below:

SHASS+ Connectivity Fund

• Abhijit Banerjee, Economics, and Azra Akšamija, Architecture: Performative Preservations and the Economics of Cool: Building a Global Future for Traditional Crafts 
• Tristan Brown, History, and Edward Gibson, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences: A Cross-Cultural Study of the Complexity of Legal Language 
• Manduhai Buyandelger, Anthropology, and Michael Short, Nuclear Science and Engineering: Anthro-Engineering: Decarbonization at the Million-Person Scale 
• Christopher Capozzola, History, and Timothy Hyde, Architecture: The Robert R. Taylor Documentary Project  
• Nazli Choucri, Political Science, and Saurabh Amin, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Workshop for Perspectives on Cybersecurity
• Esther Duflo, Economics, and Marzyeh Ghassemi, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: Scalable and Ethical AI for Health Diagnostics in Low-Resource Settings 
• Laura Frye-Levine, Anthropology, and Jennifer Morris, Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy: Building social science-engaged climate & sustainability infrastructure at MIT 
• Graham Jones, Anthropology, and Arvind Satyanarayan, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: Socio-culturally Aware AI 
• Mi-Eun Kim, Music, and Praneeth Namburi, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science: The Biomechanics of Assimilating a New Piano Skill
• In Song Kim, Political Science, and Jörn Dunkel, Mathematics: Mathematical Analysis of Inequality in U.S. Legislative and Lobbying Networks 
• Matthias Michel, Philosophy, and Earl Miller, Brain and Cognitive Sciences: MIT Consciousness Club 
• Mihaela Papa, Center for International Studies, and Bradley D. Olsen, Chemical Engineering: MIT-Amazonia Community Alliance Planning Grant
• Mark Rau, Music, and Antoine Allanore, Department of Materials Science and Engineering: Material and Acoustic Studies of Historic Musical Instruments 
• Robin Scheffler, Science, Technology, and Society and Mark Bathe, Biological Engineering: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Bioeconomy and Society 
• Jay Scheib, Theater Arts, and Anna Frebel, Physics: Living History Theater: Science Theater Performed by Scientists
• Lily Tsai, Political Science, and Rebecca Saxe, Brain and Cognitive Sciences: The Science of Respect 
• Per Urlaub, Global Languages, and Leo Anthony Celi, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science: Language/AI Incubator

Learn more about this year’s SHASS+ Connectivity Fund projects.

Humanities Cultivation Fund

• Sana Aiyar, History: Public Histories of MIT 
• Vivek Bald, Comparative Media Studies/Writing: Bengali Harlem’s Past, Present, and Future: Community Outreach, Engagement, & Impact 
• Ian Condry, Comparative Media Studies/Writing: Spaces of Sound, Technology and Culture 
• Caitlyn Doyle, Literature: Legacy: Understanding Residential Schools Through Indigenous Art 
• Bettina Stoetzer, Anthropology: Building Climate Justice Infrastructures: A community co-designed research initiative 
• Ken Urban, Theater Arts: A New Play about Ethics and Technology: THERE ARE NO MORE SECRETS 
• Chris Walley, Anthropology: Seed Funding for the Living Climate Futures Lab 

Learn more about this year’s Humanities Cultivation Fund projects.

SHASS Education Innovation Fund

• Takako Aikawa, Global Languages: Fluid Language Pedagogy (FlaP) 
• Will Broadhead, History: The Making of Roman Pompeii: materials and meaning in the ancient city 
• Kathryn Brown, Science, Technology, and Society: Resilient Urbanism: Green Commons in the City 
• Elena Kallestinova, Comparative Media Studies/Writing: WCC Public Speaking Certificate Program 
• Eric Klopfer, Comparative Media Studies/Writing: Holistic STEM Education @ MIT: Preparing Empathetic, Resilient Designers and Innovators 
• Michael Maune, Comparative Media Studies/Writing: Teaching-Oriented Corpus Interface 
• Bettina Stoetzer, Anthropology: From Lab to Land: Summer Field School for Climate Justice Program Pilot 
• Lily Tsai, Political Science: Compass Initiative 

Learn more about this year’s SHASS Education Innovation Fund projects.