SHASS News

Biology has long been used in agriculture, medicine, and materials. The 21st century has brought increased investment in biology as a potential tool for humanity’s collective advancement, giving rise to what experts are calling the bioeconomy. The bioeconomy uses renewable biological resources to produce energy, food, health products, and materials.  A new undergraduate MIT course, […]

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT has awarded funding to eight new research studies to understand how artificial intelligence innovations can be used in the fight against poverty through its new Project AI Evidence. The age of AI has brought wide-ranging optimism and skepticism about its effects on society. To realize […]

In class 21T.100 (Theater Arts Production), students are invited to join MIT Theater Arts faculty and staff in the development of a fully-staged production for an audience. Participants collaborate as performers, designers, writers, choreographers, and technicians.  “21T.100 sits at the pinnacle of our curriculum,” says Jay Scheib, section head for MIT Music and Theater Arts and the […]

Maria Yang ’91, the William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been appointed vice provost for faculty at MIT, a role in which she will oversee programs and strategies to recruit and retain faculty members and support them throughout their careers. Provost Anantha Chandrakasan announced Yang’s appointment, which is effective […]

This year’s projects “demonstrate the power of embedding human-centered thinking into MIT’s research and education,” says SHASS Dean Agustín Rayo.