Visting scholars from Ukraine kick off Global MIT At-Risk Fellows Program
MIT News - Social sciences
by Lisa Capone | MIT Center for International Studies
1w ago
Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, members of the MIT faculty knew that violence and political pressures in the region endangered the work and well-being of Ukrainian scholars and contemplated how MIT could assist. The start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 was the decisive catalyst — triggering the launch of the MIT-Ukraine Program later that year and eventually spurring creation of the new Global MIT At-Risk Fellows (GMAF) program with an initial focus on Ukraine. Designed to provide sanctuary to scholars around the globe whose lives and academic freedom have ..read more
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2024 MacVicar Faculty Fellows named
MIT News - Social sciences
by Meghan Burke | Registrar’s Office
1w ago
Four outstanding undergraduate teachers and mentors have been named MacVicar Faculty Fellows: professor of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) Karl Berggren, professor of political science Andrea Campbell, associate professor of music Emily Richmond Pollock, and professor of EECS Vinod Vaikuntanathan. For more than 30 years, the MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program has recognized exemplary and sustained contributions to undergraduate education at MIT. The program is named in honor of Margaret MacVicar, MIT’s first dean for undergraduate education and founder of the Undergraduate Res ..read more
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A careful rethinking of the Iraq War
MIT News - Social sciences
by Peter Dizikes | MIT News
3w ago
The term “fog of war” expresses the chaos and uncertainty of the battlefield. Often, it is only in hindsight that people can grasp what was unfolding around them. Now, additional clarity about the Iraq War has arrived in the form of a new book by MIT political scientist Roger Petersen, which dives into the war’s battlefield operations, political dynamics, and long-term impact. The U.S. launched the Iraq War in 2003 and formally wrapped it up in 2011, but Petersen analyzes the situation in Iraq through the current day and considers what the future holds for the country. After a decade of resear ..read more
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Eight from MIT named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows
MIT News - Social sciences
by School of Science
3w ago
Eight members of the MIT faculty are among 126 early-career researchers honored with 2024 Sloan Research Fellowships by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Representing the departments of Chemistry, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Physics, and the MIT Sloan School of Management, the awardees will receive a two-year, $75,000 fellowship to advance their research. “Sloan Research Fellowships are extraordinarily competitive awards involving the nominations of the most inventive and impactful early-career scientists across the U.S. and Canada,” says Adam F. Falk, president of the Alfre ..read more
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How cognition changes before dementia hits
MIT News - Social sciences
by Peter Dizikes | MIT News
1M ago
Individuals with mild cognitive impairment, especially of the “amnestic subtype” (aMCI), are at increased risk for dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease relative to cognitively healthy older adults. Now, a study co-authored by researchers from MIT, Cornell University, and Massachusetts General Hospital has identified a key deficit in people with aMCI, which relates to producing complex language. This deficit is independent of the memory deficit that characterizes this group and may provide an additional “cognitive biomarker” to aid in early detection — the time when treatments, as they continue ..read more
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The MIT Press announces Grant Program for Diverse Voices recipients for 2024
MIT News - Social sciences
by Jessica Pellien | MIT Press
1M ago
Launched in 2021, the Grant Program for Diverse Voices from the MIT Press provides direct support for new work by authors who bring excluded or chronically underrepresented perspectives to the fields in which the press publishes, which include the sciences, arts, and humanities. Recipients are selected after submitting a book proposal and completing a successful peer review. Grants can support a variety of needs, including research travel, copyright permission fees, parental/family care, developmental editing, and other costs associated with the research and writing process.  For 2024, th ..read more
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Investigating and preserving Quechua
MIT News - Social sciences
by Benjamin Daniel | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
1M ago
Soledad Chango, a native of Ecuador and a graduate student in MIT’s Indigenous Language Initiative, began preparations for her Quechua course with a clear idea about its purpose. “Our language matters,” she says. “It’s worth studying and spreading.” Quechua at MIT, a new two-week introductory class hosted by MIT Global Languages during the Institute’s Independent Activities Period in January, introduced students to the basics of Kichwa, a Quechua variant that is the most widely spoken language in the Americas. The class, which featured an interactive approach, focused on oral and written skill ..read more
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A new shepherd’s staff to lead “the flock” during MIT Commencement
MIT News - Social sciences
by Phil Johnson | MIT Institute Events
1M ago
When Lily Tsai led the MIT faculty onto Killian Court for the OneMIT Ceremony during Commencement last June, she was holding something that looked old but was, in fact, brand new: a ceremonial shepherd’s staff. It was a gift to the Institute from Tsai, chair of the MIT faculty from 2021 to 2023 and the Ford Professor of Political Science, that was designed by Professor Brandon Clifford of the Department of Architecture. The previous shepherd’s staff was a gift to the Institute in 1973 by then outgoing chair Professor Hartley Rogers Jr.   In a statement on the MIT Commencement website ..read more
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An MIT philosopher’s call for a civil discussion on gender and sex
MIT News - Social sciences
by Benjamin Daniel | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
1M ago
MIT philosopher Alex Byrne knows that within his field, he’s very much in the minority when it comes to his views on sex and gender.  “As an example, I have a particular answer to the question ‘What is a woman?’ Namely, that a woman is an adult female of our species. This is extremely controversial, believe it or not, in philosophy. In fact, almost all the experts in philosophy who’ve discussed this question think that my answer is wrong.” In his new book, “Trouble with Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions,” published by Polity, Byrne argues for reasoned and civil conversation on an issue h ..read more
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Anushree Chaudhuri: Involving local communities in renewable energy planning
MIT News - Social sciences
by Angelina Parrillo | MIT News correspondent
1M ago
Anushree Chaudhuri has a history of making bold decisions. In fifth grade, she biked across her home state of California with little prior experience. In her first year at MIT, she advocated for student recommendations in the preparation of the Institute’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade. And recently, she led a field research project throughout California to document the perspectives of rural and Indigenous populations affected by climate change and clean energy projects. “It doesn’t matter who you are or how young you are, you can get involved with something and inspire others to do so ..read more
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