SHASS News

Born and raised in Japan as part of a military family, Christine Pilcavage knows first-hand about the value of an immersive approach to exploration.  “Any experience in a different context improves an individual,” says Pilcavage, who has also lived in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Kenya.  It’s that ethos that Pilcavage brings to her role as […]

As a graduate student, Leslie Tilley spent years studying and practicing the music of Bali, Indonesia, including a traditional technique in which two Balinese drummers play intricately interlocking rhythms while simultaneously improvising. It was beautiful and compelling music, which Tilley heard an unexpected insight about one day. “The higher drum is the bus driver, and […]

Consciousness is famously a “hard problem” of science: We don’t precisely know how the physical matter in our brains translates into thoughts, sensations, and feelings. But an emerging research tool called transcranial focused ultrasound may enable researchers to learn more about the phenomenon. The technology has entered use in recent years, but it isn’t yet […]

At MIT, a strong spirit of mentorship shapes how students learn, collaborate, and imagine the future. In a time of accelerating change — from breakthroughs in artificial intelligence to the evolving realities of global research and work — guidance for technical challenges and personal growth is more important than ever.  The Committed to Caring (C2C) […]

The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work officially launched on Nov. 3, 2025, bringing together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to explore critical questions about economic opportunity, technology, and democracy. Co-directed by MIT professors Daron Acemoglu, David Autor, and Simon Johnson, the new Stone Center analyzes the forces that contribute to growing […]