SHASS Minors

Minors are coherent programs of study providing significant experience in their disciplines. By adding a few subjects to your concentration, you can build a 6-subject minor that allows you to explore the field in greater depth.

Minor Fields

Anthropology
Art, Culture and Technology
Chinese
Comparative Media Studies
Economics
French
German
History
History of Architecture, Art, and Design
International Development
Japanese
Linguistics
Literature
Music
Music Technology
Philosophy
Political Science
Science, Technology, and Society
Spanish
Theater Arts
Urban Studies and Planning
Writing

 

Interdisciplinary Minors*
African and African Diaspora Studies
American Studies
Ancient and Medieval Studies
Applied International Studies
Asian and Asian Diaspora Studies
Latin American and Latino/a Studies
Middle Eastern Studies
Public Policy
Russian and Eurasian Studies
Women's and Gender Studies

  

 

* Interdisciplinary minors are listed in S.B degrees as "Humanities, Course 21".


 

Minor Advisors
 

  • For a list of current minor advisors, click here.

  • For minor advisor guidelines, click here.



Procedure
 

  1.  To apply for a HASS minor, meet with the minor advisor from the relevant program of study and have them sign your HASS Minor Application Form. (Applications are due by the end of your junior year.)

  2. Submit the Application Form to the Undergraduate Academic Administrator for your minor area. They will then submit the signed form to shass-ug@mit.edu. (Forms for interdisciplinary minors should be submitted directly to shass-ug@mit.edu.)

  3. You must file a HASS Minor Completion Form by the end of the third week of your final term at MIT, whether or not you are taking some of your minor subjects during that term. (If the deadline falls on a holiday, forms are due on Thursday instead.) The absolute latest date that you can submit a HASS minor completion form is April 30th of your final term at MIT, if you are graduating in the spring. This will result in a $50 late fee.
     

Additional Guidelines
 

  • You may concentrate and minor in the same field, and use the same subjects for both. You must still submit concentration forms, even if you minor in the same field.

  • Of the 8 subjects that comprise the HASS Requirement, up to 5 of these HASS subjects may be applied toward the 6-subject HASS Minor. Of these 5, only one may be applied toward the HASS-Distribution requirement.

  • Minors are awarded when the S.B. degree is awarded, and must be associated with a specific degree.

  • For students who began undergraduate studies at MIT prior to Fall 2020, the junior/senior Pass/Fail option may not be used for courses that fulfill a minor program in HASS.

  • You may use transfer credits toward a HASS minor, at the discretion of the minor advisor. However, MIT subjects must comprise at least half of any minor program.

  • You may not minor and major in the same field.

  • A HASS minor may not be in the same field as the humanities component of a Course 21E or 21S major.

  • You may not overlap more than 2 subjects between a HASS minor and any other degree (major or minor). In some cases, you may minor and major in different, but related fields. Regardless of any overlap in requirements between the two programs, SHASS does not allow students to overlap more than 2 subjects between any two degrees (minor and minor or minor and major).