Tag: Comparative Media Studies/Writing

3 Questions: Paloma Duong on the complexities of Cuban culture

As a state run by a Communist Party, Cuba appears set apart from many of its neighbors in the Americas. One thing lost as a result, to a large extent, is a nuanced understanding of the perspectives of Cuban citizens. MIT’s Paloma Duong, an associate professor in the program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing, has helped […]

Read More

Projects investigating Swahili, global media win SHASS Humanities Awards

Two projects — the Global Mediations Lab led by Paul Roquet and the MIT Swahili Studies Initiative led by Per Urlaub — have won Humanities Awards from the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. The pilot program, launched in fall 2023, aims to support humanities-focused, collaborative projects that can have a broad impact within SHASS or […]

Read More

Unlocking history with geology and genetics

Fatima Husain grew up in the heart of the Midwest, surrounded by agriculture. “Every time you left your home, you saw fields of corn and soybeans. And it was really quite beautiful,” she says. During elementary school, she developed her own love of gardening and cultivated a small plot in her family’s backyard. “Having the […]

Read More

Award shines a spotlight on local science journalism

Local reporting is a critical tool in the battle against disinformation and misinformation. It can also provide valuable data about everything from environmental damage derived from questionable agribusiness practices to the long-term effects of logging on communities.  Reporting like this requires more than just journalistic chops. It needs a network that can share these important […]

Read More

Co-creating climate futures with real-time data and spatial storytelling

Virtual story worlds and game engines aren’t just for video games anymore. They are now tools for scientists and storytellers to digitally twin existing physical spaces and then turn them into vessels to dream up speculative climate stories and build collective designs of the future. That’s the theory and practice behind the MIT WORLDING initiative. […]

Read More

Serious play at the MIT Game Lab

Students fill the glass-walled room and spill out into the common area. They gather around tables and desks cluttered with board games and game pieces. Along the far wall, large screens show students exploring the latest virtual reality experience alongside classmates reliving their favorite retro videogames. Welcome to an open house of the MIT Game […]

Read More

MIT students build connections with Black and Indigenous Brazilians to investigate culture and the environment

In January 2024, at the height of Brazil’s summer, a group of 20 MIT undergraduates will arrive in São Paulo, Brazil, for the Independent Activities Period (IAP) course WGS.247/21L.592 (Race, Place, and Modernity in the Americas) jointly offered by the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences’ programs in Women’s and Gender Studies, Literature, and Writing.  Continuing a program developed […]

Read More

One of MIT’s “best-kept secrets” offers an outlet for creative writing

They gather every Monday at noon from disparate corners of MIT. The group includes faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, alumni, and even spouses. Their discussions revolve around mythical dystopias, half-remembered dreams, and gripping personal dramas. An outsider overhearing fragments of conversation might not know what to make of the eclectic group. Given MIT’s […]

Read More

MIT SHASS Diversity Predoctoral Fellowship Program welcomes 2023-24 class

The MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) Diversity Predoctoral Fellowship program recently welcomed its 2023-24 class. The purpose of the program is to enhance diversity in SHASS and to provide fellows with additional professional support and mentoring as they enter the field. The fellowships are intended to support scholars from a wide range of backgrounds, […]

Read More

MIT welcomes nine MLK Visiting Professors and Scholars for 2023-24

Established in 1990, the MLK Visiting Professors and Scholars Program at MIT welcomes outstanding scholars to the Institute for visiting appointments. MIT aspires to attract candidates who are, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom.” The program honors King’s life and legacy by expanding and extending […]

Read More

The secret to good schools: Try, try again

With a new academic year under way in the U.S., imagine you have been named superintendent of your local public school district. What changes would you make? How would you make them? That second question matters greatly. Despite supposedly stark differences among people, data show that most U.S. parents like their local public schools. At […]

Read More

School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences welcomes 10 new faculty

Dean Agustín Rayo and the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences recently welcomed 10 new professors to the MIT community. They arrive with diverse backgrounds and vast knowledge in their areas of research. Isaiah Andrews PhD ’14 joins MIT as a professor in the Department of Economics. Andrews is an econometrician who develops reliable and […]

Read More