SHASS News

What do we owe each other?
MIT equips students with the tools to advance science and engineering — but a new class aims to ensure they also develop their own values and learn how to navigate conflicting viewpoints. Offered as a pilot this past spring, the multidisciplinary class 21.01 (Compass Course: Love, Death, and Taxes: How to Think — and Talk […]
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Five MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2025
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has elected 120 members and 30 international members, including five MIT faculty members and 13 MIT alumni. Professors Rodney Brooks, Parag Pathak, Scott Sheffield, Benjamin Weiss, and Yukiko Yamashita were elected in recognition of their “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.” Membership to the National Academy of Sciences […]
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Changing the conversation in health care
Generative artificial intelligence is transforming the ways humans write, read, speak, think, empathize, and act within and across languages and cultures. In health care, gaps in communication between patients and practitioners can worsen patient outcomes and prevent improvements in practice and care. The Language/AI Incubator, made possible through funding from the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC), […]
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Processing our technological angst through humor
The first time Steve Jobs held a public demo of the Apple Macintosh, in early 1984, scripted jokes were part of the rollout. First, Jobs pulled the machine out of a bag. Then, using speech technology from Samsung, the Macintosh made a quip about rival IBM’s mainframes: “Never trust a computer you can’t lift.” There’s […]
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At MIT, musicians make new tools for new tunes
The MIT Music Technology Program carves out a space to explore new sounds, tunes, and experiences. From the classroom to the community, students in music tech grapple with developing both creative technology and their creative selves. In the course 21M.080 (Intro to Music Technology), it dawned on Thelonious Cooper ’25 that he had the skills […]
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